ROB Baxter has challenged his Exeter Chiefs squad to prove they have turned a corner after the club endured the worst Premiership campaign in their history last season.

The Chiefs, once perennial contenders at the top end of the league, slumped to ninth in 2023/24, recording just four wins from 18 games. They finished with 29 points, a hefty 15 adrift of eighth-placed Northampton Saints but safely clear of relegated Newcastle Falcons. For Baxter, a man who built Exeter into English champions, that return was nowhere near good enough.

“We have got lots of targets this year, but the most important one is that we have got to establish and re-educate ourselves on what Exeter Chiefs are really about,” Baxter said this week. “It will be very hard to say we have progressed if we stay in ninth or tenth. So there will have to be an improvement with our standing in the league.”

Exeter’s reset comes at a time when the Premiership itself is shifting. The newly rebranded Newcastle Red Bulls, buoyed by investment from their high-profile backers, have recruited more than a dozen new players and are expected to challenge hard. That pressure only sharpens Baxter’s focus on his own group.

What he wants most, he insists, is “emotional consistency” – the ability to compete every week, regardless of circumstances.

“We go as hard as we can to win,” he explained. “If we can’t win, we draw. If we can’t draw, we lose by a point. And if we cannot lose by a point, then we lose by two. That’s the kind of attitude I want to see us play with. That kind of attitude allows you to make good decisions during a game as well.”

Baxter takes his men to Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday to face Northampton in their opening fixture. It is, he says, the perfect chance to show that Exeter are ready to reset their standards.

“It obviously feels different, because it is,” he said of the summer’s preparations. “We’ve got a different group working in the coaches’ office. There are some different players involved in the squad. We’ve probably got a little bit of a different approach to pre-season, and we’re trying some new stuff on the field, but for me it feels pretty fresh.”

For the players who endured last year’s struggles, Baxter believes the new season offers a clean slate.

“The one thing I’d like to think is if I was a player and had been involved in last season, I couldn’t wait for this season to start and get on and show what I want to be about and how I want to be seen by people around the game,” he said.

With rivals strengthening and the Premiership as competitive as ever, Baxter knows Exeter must rediscover their bite quickly.

“It’s an opportunity for us to reset where we want to be seen within the game,” he added.

Ahead of kick-off, Baxter is buoyed by the return of three key names for the trip to the East Midlands.

England international Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is set to make his first league start since last December, while on the bench Dafydd Jenkins and Greg Fisilau also return following summer surgeries.

Exeter Chiefs: Josh Hodge; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ben Hammersley, Paul Brown-Bampoe; Harvey Skinner, Stephen Varney; Will Goodrick-Clarke, Joseph Dweba, Josh Iosefa-Scott; Lewis Pearson, Rus Tuima; Christ Tshiunza, Ethan Roots (capt), Ross Vintcent. Replacements: Jack Yeandle, Kwenso Blose, Bachuki Tchumbadze, Dafydd Jenkins, Greg Fisilau, Charlie Chapman, Nick Lilley, Kane James.