Slade's Leadership Drives Exeter to Premiership Final
Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has highlighted Henry Slade's leadership as a crucial factor in the team's progression to the Premiership final. The 33-year-old England centre, who is the Premiership's top points scorer this season, has demonstrated exceptional form in recent weeks, prompting Baxter to describe him as being in "world class form."
During the semi-final against Bath on Saturday, Slade was temporarily sidelined after receiving a sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on in the first half. Despite this setback, he returned to play a pivotal role in orchestrating a remarkable comeback. Exeter overturned a 26-10 deficit to secure a 27-26 victory, becoming the first third-placed team to reach a Premiership final.
"Our most experienced player did the stupidest thing on the field on the day, really," Baxter told . "Because even he knew as soon as he did it - you can see him almost go 'oh how have I done that, what have I done' when he snapped the ball out of his hands.
"But he's been great and he talks really well.
"When you've been there, you understand you can do things, when you've come from behind before you understand you can do things, when you've won Premiership finals you understand you can do it, you don't limit yourself from what you can achieve.
"I think he's just helping the lads believe that as well."
Exeter's Historic Comeback and Slade's Influence
Slade, who has earned 74 caps for England and participated in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, remains one of the few Exeter players with experience of the club's previous successes. A product of the Sandy Park academy, he contributed to Exeter reaching six consecutive Premiership finals between 2016 and 2021, securing the title in 2017 and 2020, as well as winning the European Champions Cup in 2020.
However, the club has undergone significant changes since then. Key players such as Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Sam Simmonds, and Stuart Hogg departed due to the financial pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This led to an influx of new players, but the team struggled to replicate past achievements.
Exeter finished seventh in two consecutive seasons before dropping to ninth last term. The 2022-23 season was particularly challenging, marked by the club's heaviest-ever defeat and concluding with only four wins—their poorest performance in the top flight to date.
Looking Ahead to the Premiership Final
As Exeter prepares to face Northampton Saints, who topped the regular-season table, at Twickenham next Saturday, Baxter expressed hope that some players departing the club, including former Australia prop Scott Sio, can conclude their Exeter careers positively.
"I've said to a few of them, the thing I'm most proud of or most pleased of is that they've got to experience what I'd call a decent Exeter Chiefs season," Baxter said.
"We had quite a few of those lads who've never been the people experiencing it and I was starting to hate it a little bit.
"A guy like Scott Sio, I bring him over, ask him to be part of something, tell him I think we can build something special - and he has four years, and one of the years is the worst year the club have.
"You're kind of thinking 'this is just not how I wanted it to be for these guys' because he's committed so fully to everything.
"For him to go on the back of playing in the winning semi-final, now playing in the Premiership final, the same with Christ Tshiunza, the same with Rusi (Tuima), these guys haven't experienced what a great Premiership season feels like and they're feeling it now and I just hope we can finish it off for those guys."
