Fin Baxter has gone from being a young propping protege at Harlequins, to earning Test match caps with the England team. At just 22-years-old Baxter certainly has a bright future ahead of him, with the loose-head paying thanks to the tutelage of his Harlequins mentor Joe Marler.
The past Summer was a coming of age England tour for Baxter, as the prop was flung into the Test match stage without a moment to hesitate. Having missed out on a cap against Japan, Baxter was named on the bench for the first of two Tests against the All Blacks, and was on the pitch after just 17 minutes in Dunedin.
The early opportunity presented itself after Marler suffered a broken foot, as the weight of Tyrel Lomax came crashing down on him after a collapsed scrum. Baxter was subsequently subbed in to the first half skirmish, and he impressed all onlookers in the home of the Highlanders. Thinking back to his England debut in the Forsyth Barr Stadium, Baxter expressed how in a matter of ‘sink or swim’, the prop made his way to the surface.
“It was really awesome. And again, to just be thrown in was almost perfect. The perfect way I wanted it really. I had no time to stress and overthink it, it was ‘well you’re in it, and you’ve got to swim’, and I want to swim. I took so much away from the Summer and again, bits that I wasn’t really looking at before that.”
Despite cursing the name of the All Blacks tight-head, Marler remained in New Zealand to see out the tour in support of his England teammates. The Harlequin once again proved to be a valuable mentor to Baxter, as the young prop spent the week preparing for the his first Test start, as England battled the All Blacks inside their spiritual home of Eden Park.
“He’s always been amazing.” Baxter continued. “And on on tour again, it took another step up. Even before he was injured, (Marler was) looking through my sessions and scrum practices and all that. He’s been awesome. It didn’t change once he was injured. He’s been awesome.”
Baxter did not delve into the specifics of how Marler assisted his training, as there was simply too much to discuss. The legendary loose-head was ever involved in Baxter’s preparations, and was constantly on hand to answer any questions the young Quin had ahead of his maiden England start.
“A bit of everything. Obviously, he knows so much around the scrum, like all the boys there. That’s what’s so nice at the moment, especially like in the (England) camp we just had, everyone was chatting. Everyone was like, ‘what do you think of this?’ Everyone’s asking questions and sharing what they think.”
Despite earning his Test debut, and getting the go ahead to start over his mentor in the famous Harlequins quarters, Baxter does not believe his mentor-protege relationship with Marler will change any time soon. Baxter believes that Marler’s advice is too valuable to pass up on, and will continue to seek the teachings of one of rugby’s most charismatic figures for years to come.
“I haven’t looked at it really any differently. As if I’d be so naive and arrogant, stupid to suddenly think that it’s not worth asking, that kind of thing. Because he’s a legend of the game. And as I said, he knows so much, and I just want to get everything I can out of out of Joe and hopefully I will.”
Marler made his long awaited return to the pitch this past weekend, as he was named amongst the replacements for Harlequins hard-fought win over Saracens. Baxter was picked to lead from the start, and put in an impressive 70 minute contribution, that saw him add a try to the eventual 17-10 Harlequins victory.
Baxter understands that after the Summer’s England expedition, he is no longer a ‘star for the future’, with his time well and truly being the here and now for Harlequins. Add in the exit of Will Collier to Castres, and the Quins propping ranks took a considerable hit, with Baxter climbing the rungs to be amongst the leading names for the Londoners front row.
“I was fully aware in the in the preseason, looking at the season gone, and thinking that I’ve now got a target on my back. I’ve got a few caps in the summer, and something I’m really proud of. I had a good year last year, and it’s not good enough to just produce the same thing as well. (I want to) Take another step forward. I’ve got to get better.”
“That’s what’s keeping that going. And again, Titi (Lamositele) has been awesome since he’s been there, and he’s a lovely man, and we’re working really hard together.”
An area where Harlequins look to have improved as a collective is their defence, with the latest London derby win against Saracens presenting this best. Harlequins held firm on repeated Saracens storm surges, yet withstood the bombardments in impressive phases of hatch-battening defence. Jason Gilmore has been accredited to the success of the new Harlequins defensive strength, and Baxter is certainly enjoying the newly reinforced wall that defends the Twickenham Stoop try-line.
“Gilly’s brought in clear and obvious (defence). He’s just very clear on his detail, and he’s he’s convincing, and he believes in it. When you see that coming across, it means the boys buy in. When you get picked up on it constantly, it just makes that skill level fly, and as we’ve seen, step by step every game we’ve had, you’ve taken another step forward with our D. In that first half, especially keeping them (Saracens) out, well, how many phases was it, it was really impressive”
“People don’t realise they’ve (Harlequins) been working so hard for so long, on our ‘D’ (defence) all through preseason. It’s Gilly’s (Jason Gilmore), obvious points that you can be picked up on in session, getting better on the go. That’s just why he’s so good.”
