From humble beginnings

Richard Baxter laughs at the memory.

It was his first game for Exeter. October 11, 1997. Fylde away, an 18-10 defeat as he made his debut in the pack alongside his brother, Rob.

The laugh fades as he focuses on the next match, his 412th for the club. Leinster away, the Heineken Cup holders, at the RDS.

This time, his brother will be in the stands, now with a Director of Rugby hat on. Yet Richard will still be at the coal face. He hasn’t changed; only the quality of the opponents have.

After training in 1997 the brothers went home to the 300-acre family farm outside Exeter to work with their livestock. Has success changed them? Not a chance. Fifteen years on they do exactly the same, the only difference being that Rob has less time on the agri side due to his club commitments.

This is a story of professionalism meeting the very best of the amateur days; of a club being rescued from the wilderness and making a habit of confounding expectations to bloody the noses of their supposed betters.

Just last weekend they scored five tries in a 42-28 victory over Aviva Premiership champions Harlequins that Richard rated as one of the best of his entire career.

This afternoon they are in Dublin for their first match in Europe’s premier competition, and nothing will faze them. The reputations of Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip and Jonny Sexton don’t scare Richard Baxter; his club have spent a generation upsetting the odds and they don’t intend to stop now.

“It’s been an incredible journey, especially the last four years,” says 34-year-old Richard softly.

“Getting promoted to the Premiership and then staying up when we had been written off, then the next year qualifying for the Heineken Cup — I am just so proud to have played a part in that and I’m really enjoying it.

“When I first started all I wanted was to get into the first-team and it’s a bit like that now. To be playing for my hometown club was special in 1997 and it is still special now.”

There have been three key figures in the rise of Exeter; the two Baxter brothers and Tony Rowe, a Devon-based businessman whose money has broadened their horizons.

Under their guidance, the club moved to the purpose-built Sandy Park stadium — perhaps the single most atmospheric and intimidating in England — in 2006, a change of emphasis that brought a higher calibre of player to Exeter and encouraged others such as Baxter to stay.

“Tony’s business acumen has been great, and the move to Sandy Park was instrumental in our rise,” Baxter explains. “It was then we realised we were serious about getting promoted. I had chances to leave but we could all see the club was going places. My family was settled and it’s a lovely part of the world to live in.

“That kept me here and I put my mind to doing well with Exeter — and I have been incredibly lucky to be here as we achieved some of those goals.”

And family is a recurring theme at Exeter. The Baxters’ father played for the club, and all three of them work on the same farm. Indeed Rob considers his brother’s work with bales of hay as vital training for the manoeuvring of 18-stone forwards, and Richard does not disagree. And as some players will have spent their week worrying about Leinster, Baxter Junior has been concentrating on livestock.

“I go and help Dad on the farm when I can and it’s nice to get away from rugby and do something different,” he explains.

“We’ve been on this farm for 40 years and that was our business. Then rugby started becoming professional and it started to pay a little better, but it is still a huge part of our lives. It’s a responsibility that has been part of my life since I was born. I like that and want to preserve it.

“When I retire I would like to carry on farming in some capacity, although I don’t know if it will be the be-all-and-end-all for me.”

Can they take the next step and shock Leinster? He adds: “Their record is outstanding and they have a few decent players alright! “We’ll look to enjoy the occasion and play as well as we can. We don’t want the game to pass us by. We are excited and we have a group of guys who are excited, want to go and play and show what they can do.”