Rob Baxter weighs in to debate around fixture scheduling and player welfare

(Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images)
By Adam Ellis
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has conceded his responsibility to keep his players fit and healthy are ‘taken out of his hands’ by the growing constraints of modern rugby.
The Chiefs travel to the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday, a five-day turnaround from their Champions Cup victory over Montpellier on Sunday.
And with both matches being televised the boss of the reigning Premiership champions alluded to the factors broadcasters place on his ability to keep his players fresh for competitive games.
Speaking to the media at a press briefing, Baxter said: “It still seems in this day and age, when we have so much talk on player welfare that the two TV companies – one who lines one up for the European games and the other for the Premiership – can’t seem to work these things out that you don’t get these turnarounds.
“You are supposed to avoid them at all costs, purely based on player welfare. The people who are responsible for organising European TV fixtures are well aware we have a Friday night fixture, that’s been in the schedule for quite some time prior to the European schedule, it’s one of those things.
“It’s obviously a frustration to me, especially as we seem to be the focal point as professional coaches as how we have to look after and maintain the balance of players, but then you get those opportunities taken out of your hands.”
Measures to address the issue have suggested a statutory recovery time to give players a break, an idea Baxter rejected as unnecessary.
“There shouldn’t be a statutory minimum, it should just be done on common sense. I think that’s the battle that we are all frustrated with. Common sense says you shouldn’t be dragging a team around on a Sunday to then go and play on a following Friday, either home or away.”
Player welfare has become the biggest talking point in rugby in recent months after a Premiership proposal to extend the season by one month received opposition from players.
Saracens number 8 Billy Vunipola, out for four months after requiring surgery on a knee injury, warned that players risk ‘burning out’ and he would go as far to take a pay cut in order to play less rugby.