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Last summer, as he and his new Exeter team-mates took part in a brutal pre-season fitness session on Exmouth Beach, Springbok international hooker Joseph Dweba stared out to sea.
Hands on haunches, desperately trying to suck in fresh oxygen, the new Chiefs hooker had been left shocked at the demands placed on him, to such an extent that he joked about immediately returning to South Africa.
‘The interview process we have with new players is pretty blunt in terms of what we expect from them,’ says Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter. ‘If you tell them we're going to have a big pre-season, you expect them to work extremely hard. You've kind of got them then, haven't you?
'When players have got their heads down like Joseph and he looks like he's going to cry, you slap him on the back and say: “Come on, you said you were going to enjoy this!”
‘He walked down the beach at one stage and waved to a boat that was leaving, saying: “Take me to South Africa!” He had a sense of humour about it. We got the hard work done.’
Dweba and the rest of the Exeter squad survived their ordeal and have been all the better for being pushed to their physical limits. Baxter’s gruelling regime was the first part of his plan to take Exeter back to the top.
‘The big difference was the amount of running load we did,’ says Exeter boss Rob Baxter of their pre-season. 'Sometimes, it’s just about pure hard work’
Exeter winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is put through his paces in the summer
For a team that has won two Prem Rugby titles and one European Cup, the 2024-25 season was an annus horribilis for the Chiefs. They finished second bottom of the PREM table, winning just four of 18 league games with the nadir a 79-17 humiliation at the hands of Gloucester – one which prompted owner Tony Rowe to read the riot act. Baxter knew change was needed.
So, after taking a step back from rugby operations, he returned to the lead role and brought back a no-nonsense approach. The results have been spectacular.
Exeter are back where they belong, competing at the top of the PREM. They sit third in the pile ahead of hosting fourth-placed Bristol at Sandy Park on Saturday.
‘The big difference was the amount of running load we did,’ says Baxter, explaining the impressive nature of his team’s turnaround. ‘That allowed us to build from there. Sometimes, it’s just about pure hard work.’
Baxter first joined Exeter as a youth player in 1987 and he has been there ever since. He lives and breathes the club and remains very much its heartbeat.
Whenever he has tried to give his fellow coaches more of a leading role, the team has struggled badly. Baxter felt the desire and work rate of his young players had dropped off to such an extent that they needed to be shocked back into life.
‘The difference in the pre-season in terms of the way the boys turned up to it and how hard it was compared to previous years was night and day,’ says Exeter’s England centre Henry Slade. ‘The boys entered it and left the pre-season in incredible shape. A number of times this season already we've conceded a few points in the first half, but then we’ve always found that we come strong again and we end up dominating.
‘We’ve been able to go for 80 minutes and the confidence that gives you is a big positive. It was up there with a World Cup pre-season. It was bloody hard. Rob wanted to make us hard to beat and mentally and physically tough. He’s done that.’
New signing Len Ikitau has set high standards and added a bit of Aussie stardust
Ikitau chats with fellow new signing Joseph Dweba, who joked about immediately returning to South Africa so tough was pre-season
Once the fitness had been banked, Exeter focused on upping their power game which had been a trademark of past successful Chiefs outfits. Higher standards were expected in training and Baxter recruited well, Australia duo Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper the headline arrivals alongside Dweba.
‘Our standards, for whatever reason, had dropped off too far,’ Baxter says. ‘Once you get into a cycle where you're losing a lot of games, as staff you probably try and create a false positivity.
‘If I look back now, the biggest lesson I would probably say is after two or three games, we should have put an absolute stop to things and started again. We did that after the Gloucester game. If we get to a stage where we can win a major trophy again, it would be incredible.’
Star centre Ikitau is currently on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. But he and Hooper have had a big impact, adding some Wallaby stardust to Sandy Park.
‘I was watching from afar last season,' Hooper says. 'I signed around Christmas time and was keen to see how the boys were going. While it was a disappointing season, the boys learned a lot from that and the embedded belief of hard work that is here has allowed us to turn defeats into performances we can be really proud of. We’ve added a bit of polish, a new attacking structure and we’ve been able to get a few wins under our belt.’
Exeter’s impressive fitness and power has put them in a good position to make the top four. Although Baxter believes it might be too soon to talk of another title bid, his team are in a good league position and are also still in the hunt for the European Challenge Cup.
The feelgood factor is back, Exeter’s players celebrating a famous away win at Saracens before Christmas in boozy fashion.
‘The highlight of the year so far has been Saracens away and the bus home,’ Baxter says. ‘I'm not saying it was an old-school rugby bus. That's probably going a bit too far in the modern era. They had a few beers and were singing songs. It was a group who wanted to be together and wanted to celebrate together. That's the important thing. There was a genuine, spontaneous element of joy on the back of having some success.’
Greg Fisilau scores the opening try of the game for Exeter Chiefs against Leicester Tigers just after Christmas
Exeter’s turnaround is best summed up by No 10 Harvey Skinner. In a struggling team last season, he failed to get control of the side. But with more fitness in the pack, he's been reborn
Henry Slade is close to agreeing a new deal for next season according to his boss Rob Baxter
If Exeter continue on their upward curve, Baxter’s players might be drinking champagne from the Prem Rugby trophy by the season’s end. Slade, now 32, is playing the best rugby of his career this term. His fellow internationals Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Dafydd Jenkins are both in exceptional form, too.
Exeter’s turnaround can perhaps be best summed up by No 10 Harvey Skinner. In a struggling team last season, Skinner failed to get control of the side. But with more power and fitness in the pack, he has been reborn and has guided Baxter’s men impressively.
‘When the group is happy and they're feeling and seeing success, they tend to want to stay together,' Baxter says, alluding to Slade and the chances of him signing a new contract. 'It certainly helps with recruitment and guys wanting to come here. We’re back on the positive side of the scale, not the negative side.
‘We're getting there with Henry. Everything is very positive. He wants to stay. I'm pretty certain we'll get everything sorted.’
After 12 months of misery, the good times are back at Exeter and Prem Rugby is all the better for it.
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