Harlequins prop Fin Baxter reveals key work-on after ‘awesome’ England breakthrough

Harlequins prop Fin Baxter has revealed that he is hoping to improve his ball carrying prowess as he looks to build on an “awesome” first experience in an England rugby shirt.

Baxter was thrown in at the deep end on his first international tour, pressed into duty just 20 minutes in to the first Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin after injury to club colleague Joe Marler.

But the young loosehead stood up to the challenge, and also impressed on his first start at Eden Park a week later.

Recognising a need not to rest on his laurels, Baxter has placed greater emphasis on improving his ability in attack, with particular focus on his leg drive through contact.

“I’ve now got a target on my back,” Baxter, who is expected to be named in Steve Borthwick’s squad for the November Tests on Wednesday, said after starring in Harlequins’s win over Saracens on Sunday.

“I got a few caps in the summer, which is something I’m really proud of. I had a really good year last year, but it’s not good enough to just produce the same again. I’ve got to take another step forward, I’ve got to get better.

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“[The summer] was really awesome. To just be thrown in was almost the perfect way I wanted it, really. I had no time to stress and overthink. You’ve got to sink or swim, and I want to swim. I took so much away from it.

“I think I am putting more of an emphasis on post-contact metres, which isn’t transferring as much as I’d like it to at the moment, but hopefully will transfer eventually. The first three steps in defence as well, and then leg drive through the tackle. It’s so important to have that dominant tackle, and that comes from pure leg drive.”

With Marler absent as he recovered from the injury sustained in New Zealand, the 22-year-old Baxter has started the first four games of the new Premiership season, stepping up in a front row room that lost experienced tighthead Will Collier this summer.

He was at the heart of a long-awaited win over Harlequins’s London rivals on Sunday, scoring a first-half try and producing a number of dominant tackles.

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It was a victory achieved in a fashion one would not normally associate with Harlequins as the club reaped the benefits of an early-season focus on defensive development.

Jason Gilmore has arrived as defence coach after the midseason departure of Jerry Flannery to the Springboks last season, and Baxter hailed the Australian’s impact on the squad.

“Gilly [Jason Gilmore] is very clear in his detail,” Baxter explained. “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 makes that skill level fly. It’s step by step – every game we’ve had we’ve taken a step forward in our D.

“We are looking at the first three steps off the line every time, looking at double tackles, looking at getting shoulder in front and getting dominant tackles, and creating more time in the ruck as a base, and then everything else comes on top.[Defence] is my favourite part of the game because I’m pretty good at it, and I love doing stuff that I’m good at.”