Opportunity knocks for Nowell

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs youngster Jack Nowell believes greater exposure to competitive action is helping to bring his game onto another level this season.

The 19-year-old Cornishman turned in a man-of-the-match display as the Devon club kicked off their LV= Cup campaign in style with a 42-15 victory over London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium.

Full-back Nowell, who is also dual-registered with the Cornish Pirates in the Championship, raced over twice for the the visitors who also had Nic Sestaret (2), Mark Foster and Will Carrick-Smith on the scoresheet in a hugely impressive display from the Chiefs.

A week on from defeating Worcester Warrors in the Aviva Premiership, England Under-20s starlet Nowell was one of 15 changes the visitors made to their line-up for the clash with Welsh.

It was a bold move from the Exeter coaching team, but one which ultimately provided huge dividends as the healthy mix of youth and experience combined to great effect to sink the Londoners, who themselves had claimed their third top flight win of the season against Bath just seven days earlier.

“The coaches, Rob (Baxter), Ali (Hepher) and Ricky (Pellow), had being saying to us over the last couple of weeks that it was an opportunity for us to take,” said Nowell. “They gave us our chances, and even though we are still young, it shows we can take them, everyone down from big Will (Carrick-Smith) scoring a try in the corner, to Sladey (Henry Slade) bossing the game at number ten.

“The result and performance were exactly what we wanted from the game. We had been talking all week about working together, sticking together and playing as a team, and I think we showed out there exactly what we had been working for.

“The first half was a bit tight, but I think it just took us a bit of time to get into it. It was important for us not to slip back and go to sleep, but we came out for the second half after our team talk and really showed what we are about. London Welsh are a very physical side and a very good side, but I think we matched that and came back in the second half a bit stronger.”

After a knee injury ruled Nowell out for a large part of last season, including the Junior World Championships in South Africa, the fleet-footed back has returned to action with a bang.  Together with fellow young guns Slade, Carrick-Smith, Sam Hill, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Arnott and Lloyd Fairbrother, the group are clearly benefitting from regular action at clubs such as the Pirates and Plymouth Albion.

“Our games are definitely coming on from playing regular rugby at Championship level,” said Nowell, who was named Pirates’ man of the match after their 21-8 home victory over Leeds Carnegie at the end of last month.

“We have been given the chance to go out on dual registration and play at a lower level to the Premiership. It is very physical, but we are learning new things at the Chiefs and then taking those to our dual-registered clubs and trying them out, and bringing what we have learned at those clubs back to the Chiefs as well, which is good.”

Equally the youngsters have been proving their worth with Exeter too, playing key roles for the Braves in the Aviva Premiership A League.

“The A League gives us that chance to play together,” added Nowell. “There were a lot of players out there who do play in the A League, and that benefits us because we do know how each other plays.”

Now Nowell will be hoping to keep his place in the starting line-up for Saturday’s second LV= Cup group match at home to Welsh side Ospreys (5pm).

Last October he made his first senior start for the Chiefs against the same opposition in the same competition with the Chiefs winning 35-9 at Sandy Park.

“It is nice to play in front of the home crowd. It was good last year, and hopefully this time around we can take everything positive from Sunday’s game, work on the things we didn’t do quite so well, and go out there and play,” said Nowell.

Tickets for Saturday's game are available through the Trading Post, which is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm, or online by clicking here


For Saturday's fixture we have a number of special ticket offers, including free entry for any current serving members of the Armed Forces or Emergency Services; as well as our Family Ticket which will allow two children FREE entry providing they attend with two paying adults. Details of both of these offers are available by clicking here