Rob Baxter signs new Chiefs contract

Exeter Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter has committed to developing a successful Chiefs squad for the future by signing a new contract with the club.

Exeter Rugby Club’s CEO and chairman Tony Rowe CBE said: “Rob has been front and centre of the growth of this club having helped build its foundations as a player. He is an Exeter Chiefs man through and through and has led us through some of our most memorable moments.

“He has also built a new coaching team and a young squad that are already keen and able to compete at the top level. It will be exciting to see where he can take them in the next few years.”

The former Chiefs player has been at the helm since initially taking on the role of head coach in 2009. A triple centurion as a player, Baxter has helped to add more than 10 trophies to the Chiefs cabinet including two Gallagher PREM titles and an Investec Champions Cup.

Baxter said: “I’m delighted to have signed a contract extension. I’ve been involved here a long time, had some fantastic experiences and some tough ones along the way too, though thankfully those have been few and far between.

“To have the club be happy to extend my time here makes me proud. The key thing for me is how excited I am and how enthused I am to work with the current crop of players we have here at Chiefs as well as the players we’ve already signed for next season, the young academy players coming through our pathway, and the group of coaches.

“I can really see a bright future for the club. I genuinely feel we’re going to be a club challenging others at the right end of the PREM and hopefully we’ll grow into a team who battles it out in the latter stages of European competition in the future too.

“That is certainly my aim, and I know the club are very ambitious in what they still want to achieve. Hopefully things align and we go on to achieve great things.”

The Baxter family ties with Exeter Chiefs run deep. Rob followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle, alongside brother Richie who leads the modern era in appearances made for the club with more than 400.

He captained the Exeter first team for 10 years, making 312 appearances, before retiring from playing in 2005.

Engrossing himself in the coaching staff originally on an interim basis, it became a full-time arrangement ahead of the 2009/10 season. That would prove to be a pivotal year in the history of the Chiefs with the club earning promotion to the top-flight.

In the decade and a half that has followed, Baxter has coached Chiefs to six PREM finals, emerging victorious in 2016/17 and 2019/20. The elongated, COVID-interrupted end to the 2020 campaign also saw Chiefs complete a historic double as they beat Racing 92 in the final of the Champions Cup.

Baxter’s commitment ensures a sound structure to the Chiefs coaching staff with Dave Walder [attack coach], Haydn Thomas [defence coach] and Ross McMillan [forwards coach] joined by James Wilson [assistant backs coach] and Glen Townson [assistant forwards coach] this season.