The Gallagher Prem campaign is underway Harlequins with mixed results, and the return of Finn Baxter to the away team Saracens tomorrow can’t come soon enough. Baxter, who is gearing up for his long-awaited return after two foot operations sidelined him for nine months, is exactly the kind of player’s supporters at The Stoop to inject some belief into a club looking for direction. After something of a meteoric rise, which included an international debut at the age of just 22, an enforced break gave the likable loosehead a chance to make his mark.
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“I try and think at the end of every season. We’re always so interested in (focusing on) what’s next. We always want more. It’s just the nature of rugby players and sports people. I try to think about what went well this year and what I needed to improve on. I’m stuck in the past, I’m concentrating on the things I always want to improve. if I’m always thinking like that, I’m not very happy.”
The injury layoff also gave Baxter more time to devote to his studies, although, as he freely admits, more time hasn’t necessarily made him more organized.
“It’s funny, I decided that a task takes as long as you have time to do it. I had a lot more time to do my tasks, but it wasn’t always easy. I’m not a student and an international rugby player – I’m an international rugby player, trying to keep up with the students.”
Expectations surrounding Baxter have changed significantly since he first broke into the Harlequins side. The new prop arrived with plenty of promise, but his youth also meant there were always more experienced players to look up to. Conversely, Baxter’s return to fitness is seen as crucial if Quins are to improve on a challenging 2025-26 campaign. If heightened expectations should affect the way Baxter thinks about his rugby, he’s having none of it.
“I never think about what people expect because I obviously don’t care, honestly. I expect myself to play well and I want to show what I’m working on and improve what I’m working on and keep my strengths at the world level.”
Baxter may find it easier to ignore such comments, since he has been used to dealing with assumptions based on his youthful appearance since his teenage years. At 16 England caps and a Premiership title to his name, those assumptions are largely a thing of the past, but he admits the prejudices got under his skin.
I never wanted to change because that’s who I am.
“I was pretty nervous about it at first, saying, ‘Why is that the first thing people talk about?’ But I never wanted to change because I am who I am.”
Fortunately, Baxter came of age under the tutelage of another Harlequins prop who had to endure many uninvited comments about his looks, albeit for different reasons. Baxter’s former teammate and television star, Joe Marler, remains one of the most important influences in his career. For all his admiration for Marler, Baxter emphasizes that there is a line he cannot force himself to cross.
“One of the physios said the other day, ‘Oh, you’re going to honor Joe,’ and I wanted to do the opposite: shave my hair down the middle. That was the idea we came up with, but I’m not rushing towards it!”
Not every prop has made the tonal choices that Marler has, but there’s still a tendency for the leads to be larger-than-life characters. Baxter smiles at my suggestion that the frontrunners are a strange species, but he has an explanation.
“There are certain kinds of physical limitations or criteria, and then there’s the mental criteria, which is that you have to be pretty pushed in the head.”
To the uninitiated, this may sound like an insult. Baxter means it fondly, and it’s clear that he regards his fellow front rowers with immense affection. He nods emphatically when I talk about the fraternal nature of those who come together for life.
“We definitely appreciate each other because we understand the effort we put in. We don’t hit the mega, 100m attempts and all that. Most of our work is not glamorous, it’s based on hard work and very physical.”
That brotherhood doesn’t stop Baxter from being fiercely competitive. If nothing else, his admiration for the world’s best props gives him a clearer idea of where he wants to go. When asked who he considers to be the best in the world at the moment, he points to the South African pair of Ox Nche and his former teammate, Wilco Louw.
“Our primary role is to be amazing at smashing, smashing and breaking, and everything else is secondary, in my opinion.”
“You only have to look at Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. Our primary role is tackle and set, and those guys (South Africa) have the best line-up right now.”
Baxter’s belief in the importance of the set piece is telling, especially given his many attributes on the pitch. For Baxter, too much emphasis is sometimes placed on the things props can provide away from the scrum, which counts for little if their scrummaging isn’t up to par.
“I think a lot of young props get confused when people talk about ‘modern prop’. Our primary role is to be amazing at scrummaging, smashing and breaking, and everything else is secondary, in my opinion. That’s where World Class has become different. They’re world class at scrummaging, and they’re brilliant at everything else, however, it can be great. come.”
It’s a revealing comment from a player who, despite his relative youth, no longer considers himself one of those young props. After all, this is a young man who made his first start for England against All black people at Eden Park, one of the toughest assignments in Test rugby. At 24, with his injury in the rearview mirror, he is ready to enter the next phase of his career.
“I want to be the best in the world.”
If he goes ahead with this ambition, it won’t just be Harlequins who will benefit. England will need world-class props if they are to have any chance of winning next year’s World Cup. At Fin Baxter, they may have it soon.
