Exeter head coach Rob Baxter backs fly-half Henry Slade as World Cup option for England
By Sam Drury
Last Updated: 02/03/15 11:12am
Exeter head coach Rob Baxter has backed fly-half Henry Slade to make the England World Cup squad after the 21-year-old kicked the Chiefs to victory over Bath on Saturday.
Slade kicked three penalties and converted the only try of the game, scored by scrum-half Will Chudley, to give Baxter’s side a 16-6 win – their first over Bath in the Aviva Premiership.
Baxter is convinced that Slade has all the necessary attributes to put himself in contention when Stuart Lancaster names his final squad for the World Cup later this year.
"Henry showed a lot of composure with kicks that weren't easy - one long range and one from out wide on the right - and he was good defensively,” he said. “That is just the kind of pressure environment that he needs to play in to thrive.”
"What Henry has got in his favour, when you talk about putting a World Cup squad together, is that including him means that you cover three or four positions.
"You want to involve someone in your squad who can run everything with you, know all your patterns, run all your plays and know what is coming up rather than trying to draft someone in as emergency injury cover.
"I think he has a lot of plus points that Stuart could look on very favourably when he is putting the final squad together."
As for the match itself, Baxter praised his team for the way they dealt with such a big game with both clubs looking to consolidate play-off positions.
"It wasn't a great match - that is the truth,” he added. “Both sides were a bit nervy and edgy because it was an important game for both teams, but I think after half-time we just freed ourselves enough to have more confidence and that saw us home.
"Fair play to Bath, we know that they have some quality players missing, that was a tough game for us both mentally and physically. I am glad that we have come through it now and hopefully we can put in some better performance, especially here, against Bath.”