Hunter happy with win

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs forwards coach Rob Hunter didn't mind how it came, but he said his side's return to winning ways in the Aviva Premiership with a 16-3 success over Newcastle Falcons was crucial ahead of what will be a crucial period in the top flight.

Ahead of this latest contest at Sandy Park, the Chiefs had suffered five successive losses in all competitions, but a try from Haydn Thomas and 11 points from fly-half Gareth Steenson ensured the Devon club were able to rediscover their winning formula.

The win - Exeter's sixth in the Premiership this term - not only helped lift them back into the top five, but gave them the perfect lift ahead of testing away-days against Harlequins and London Wasps.

And while it may not have been pretty to watch at times in tough conditions, Hunter admitted the result had to come first sometimes.

"Ugly is probably the right word - but we have been playing pretty attractive rugby for four weeks and not got any wins," he said. "The wind was difficult when you were playing into it, so you have to do what you can to win a match.

"Newcastle put a lot of heat on at the breakdown and they are a tough team, so we had to keep our discipline and keep breaking them down to eventually get the win."

Hunter admitted that despite recent setbacks, including back-to-back losses in the Heineken Cup to reigning champions RC Toulon, the Chiefs were still in good shape and sticking to their season principles

"We have kept belief in our recent defeats and we have to continue that attitude," added Hunter. "We are good at it, we create a lot of opportunities but we have to get better at taking those opportunities.

"We have learnt a lot in the past couple of weeks in the Heineken Cup, just as we did against Saracens and Bath in the league. We have a really good bunch of lads who are prepared to take those lessons and transfer them onto the pitch, but sometimes it takes time.

"When you look at the age profile of these guys – we have a pretty bright future as these guys get better."

Next up for the Chiefs is their trip to Twickenham and the task of overcoming Harlequins in what should be a capacity crowd of 80,000 at 'Big Game 6'.

The Exeter players have been given Christmas Day off to spend with the families, but will otherwise be preparing as normal for the battle with Quins.

‘It is nice to have Christmas Day when you have not lost at home so we have a couple of days to enjoy the fact that we are back where we can start looking upwards and focus on the Quins match,’ said Hunter.

"It should be a very exciting match, it will be a great occasion, but also what will be a very tough game as well. This three-match league period is absolutely crucial to the rest of the season because you have to be tough and get your points.

"We may be fifth in the table now but what counts is where you are in May. ‘We have to keep looking up, keep focused on getting as far up the league as you can and keep focusing on those performances."