Exeter Coach Rob Baxter Welcomes Tamati Tua’s Return to Fitness

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has expressed his excitement regarding the availability of centre Tamati Tua for selection. Tua is now part of Exeter’s midfield, alongside players such as Henry Slade and Joe Hawkins. The 27-year-old, who arrived at Exeter during the summer transfer window from Super Rugby’s ACT Brumbies, was sidelined for the entire pre-season and the initial series of Premiership matches due to a neck injury. The New Zealand international recently made his first appearance for the club earlier this month, participating in the Premiership Rugby Cup victory against Championship team Hartpury. Exeter is scheduled to play Gloucester on Friday night, marking their third fixture in the competition. Tua’s rejoining the squad is anticipated to strengthen Exeter, as the team has faced several midfield injuries this season, including periods of absence for Henry Slade and Ben Hammersley. “Watching him at the Brumbies he’s got a good level of physicality carrying through the gain line, reads defensively very well and has a good skill set around carrying and offloading, which you saw a couple of instances of that at the weekend,” Baxter informed BBC Sport. Baxter continued, stating, “He’s just a good all-round player. He’s a big athletic guy, so he challenges the opposition in attack and defence and that’s what we want to see.” He further elaborated, “We want to see him with ball in hand as much as possible and attacking opposition to give us some start points, but also to create some opportunities as play breaks down a little bit and keep the ball alive.” Baxter concluded by saying, “I think you’re going to see a lot from him over the rest of this season.”