ROB Baxter is looking for others to step up as Exeter Chiefs head to Paris to face Racing 92 in Sunday’s European Challenge Cup clash.

With England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Wallabies flanker Tom Hooper, Wales lock Dafydd Jenkins, star centres Henry Slade and Len Ikitau and Italian lock Andrea Zambonin all set to be rested following international duty recently, Baxter admits he’s ready to turn to the squad’s wider roster for their latest fixture.

Having kicked off their European campaign with a comfortable 42-12 victory over the Cheetahs at Sandy Park, others will now be tasked with challenging the Frenchmen, who themselves started their campaign with a heavy 61-7 loss at Ulster.

Baxter is keen not only to allow others the stage to perform, but he also has one eye on the following week, when the Chiefs travel to Saracens looking to preserve their lofty status in the Gallagher Premiership.

“We only have a short turnaround to Saracens in the Premiership because we go from Sunday to Saturday. We do have to give these lads a rest at some stage,” he said.

“We have a group of three, we have to give a mandatory rest at some stage, and then we have a group of guys like Henry Slade who were in the international camp for the full period of the PREM Rugby.

“Len Ikitau has obviously been involved in 13-14 Test matches in a very short period, and Len was fully involved in that. Zambo (Andrea Zambonin) was pretty full on during that international period. So we have got guys that we need to give a break to and need to give a rest to, but also we have got a wider squad we need to use if we are going to have any success across three competitions.”

After a 34-3 Prem Rugby Cup defeat at Sale Sharks last month, Baxter also wants a response from the wider squad.

He added: “We’ve got good energy and a strong vibe, and we’re expecting better from those who played in that period. This is their moment to make a mark on a big European stage.

“We are aware from last season, you cannot run the same guys out week in, week out through all of the competitions because sooner or later, you just run out of steam.

“At the moment, we have got a good energy and a good vibe, and we were frustrated about the Sale game and are expecting better from those players who played in that Prem Cup period,” said Baxter.

Meanwhile, New Zealander James Wilson has joined the club as the new men’s assistant backs coach.

Wilson has moved back to the UK having been a part of the Southland Stags coaching staff for the last four years. The 42-year-old joined the Stags as attack coach in 2021 having previously represented them on more than 80 occasions as a player.

Wilson said: “Coming back to the PREM was a massive draw for me. I was once a player here and I’ve always wanted to come back to coach in the UK. So, when this opportunity came up, I had to jump at it.

“Rob [Baxter] liked the fact I had experience working with guys coming through the academy and transitioning into the first team. I really enjoy working with young players, helping them to develop and get them into regular games.

“I’d like to get to know as much about the players as possible and ensure that they’re able to trust me and know that whatever I show them, they can take it on and build from it.”

Although born in New Zealand, Wilson often travelled further afield for club rugby as he played for Bourgoin-Jallieu in the French Nationale league and Mitsubishi Dynaboars in Japan. He did play in his native country for the Highlanders.

The Prem is not an unknown entity to Wilson, the former full-back played 94 games for Northampton Saints, alongside current Chiefs coach Ross McMillan, and a further 26 games for Bath Rugby.

Baxter added: “We’re really pleased to be announcing James. We wanted to move pretty quickly to add to the coaching staff when we knew that Ricky Pellow would be departing. We wanted to bring in somebody whose initial role would be to take over a lot of Ricky’s responsibilities around skills coaching, backs coaching and working alongside our senior academy group.

“James has got a lot of experience coaching in New Zealand, so we’re expecting him to have a fair bit of input into the senior group as well, right from the start as he’ll have full matchday involvement with our senior side.

“He’s got a wealth of Prem experience with both Northampton Saints and Bath Rugby, so he knows the competition well having played in both Europe and the Prem. We’ve been very impressed with his CV and the coaching he’s done in New Zealand.

“All in all, we think it’s a really good signing for us. He’s got a great skillset and is someone we think can really add to the coaching group, particularly with him being a former back-three player as that’s an area that we haven’t got a coach with experience in as both Dave [Walder] and Haydn [Thomas] were half-backs.

“James has come over from New Zealand and come straight in to work with us just a couple of days on from his arrival. We’re delighted to have him and we hope he can have a big impact for us.”

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have also been linked with another coach, Glen Townson, who is expected to join shortly as club’s new men’s assistant forwards coach.