Phillips is all out to impress Baxter

Former Bristol player James Phillips will be looking to make a good impression against his old club for more than one reason.

As well as bragging rights, a place in the team for the first Premiership game of the season is up for grabs.

Having seen his campaign last season blighted by a knee injury sustained in the home game with Saracens, the imposing forward is now back to full fitness and keen to make up for lost time.

The Bristol-born star featured for 40 minutes in Exeter’s 23-15 friendly win at Scarlets and he will get another run out against his hometown club in this weekend’s latest pre-season game at Sandy Park (3pm).

With the long-serving Richard Baxter having retired at the end of last season, the battle for the No.8 jersey is set to be intense this term and Phillips is well aware the coaches will be watching closely as the countdown to the seasonal opener at Northampton Saints draws ever nearer.

“I was really pleased to get 40 minutes under my belt against Scarlets,” said Phillips.

“Like with any pre-season, you can do plenty of running and hard work in the gym, but it’s minutes out on the pitch that are the most important thing at this stage.

“After the disappointment of last season with the injury, I just want to go out there and show what I can do again. At the same time I also want to repay the faith shown in me by the club, the staff and all my team-mates because every time I’ve had an injury they’ve really stuck by me and got me through what have been some tough times.”

Now into his fourth season at the Devon club, Phillips wants to use the club’s pre-season fixtures as the perfect building block for what he hopes will be a successful campaign all round. 

Meanwhile, head coach Baxter has told his players the opportunity is there.

He said: “I’ve said to the guys that these are the games which are going to decide who will feature in that first Premiership squad up at Northampton in a few weeks time. If you look at the team we picked last week and now the team we’ve picked for this weekend, any one of those players we know could do a job in the Premiership.

“For all of them, the opportunity is certainly there for them to remind us as coaches that they are very good rugby players and that they are capable of playing at a very high standard.”