Exeter Director of Rugby Rob Baxter is unhappy with a congested fixture list that will see his Chiefs side play twice in five days.
On Sunday, the Chiefs defeated Montpellier in their European Champions Cup clash, but on Friday night they travel to Sale Sharks for a Premiership match.
Speaking at his weekly media 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 on 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 for how we have to look after and maintain the balance of players, but then you get those opportunities taken out of your hands.
“We are very much focusing on re-energising the group. We understand our hands are tied to a degree in terms of how much recovery we can get in, which players we can select and who will be fit after a tough game in Montpellier going into Sale, but we will deal with it as best we can.
“You can see today we have most of the group running around, so the guys who come through the freshest and the fittest will be the guys who play against Sale.”
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