Steeno ready for Glasgow clash

By Mark Stevens

Gareth Steenson says Exeter Chiefs travel to Glasgow this weekend with "nothing to fear" as they look to push forward in this season's Heineken Cup campaign.

Having kicked off life in Pool 2 with an impressive 44-29 home win over Cardiff Blues last weekend, fly-half Steenson will be hoping for a similar outcome when the Devon club travel north of the border this Sunday (2pm).

In a dazzling first half against the star-studded Blues, Rob Baxter's side blew away their rivals with a five-try blast that saw them storm into a 36-3 lead at the interval.

As expected, Cardiff improved significantly after the break and their cause was aided when Exeter lost centres Ian Whitten and Sireli Naqelevuki to the sin-bin in the space of a minute. Making the most of the numerical advantage, the Welsh region were able to hit back and claim a losing bonus point of their own thanks to four second half tries.

Across the Channel, the Warriors were themselves involved in a high-scoring tussle with defending champions Toulon who, like the Chiefs, produced a strong first half showing only for the visiting Scotsmen to hit back in the second half and claim a bonus point.

"The way we started at the weekend against Cardiff was pretty special," admitted Steenson. "That's pretty much how we want to play; a full 15-man game where we can really attack the spaces the opposition give us. It's a focus we have been working on since pre-season and last week - especially in the first half - it all just happened to click.

"Hopefully we can do the same this week against Glasgow, but we know it will be a tough test as they are a side who are going well themselves. For us to play like we did last week takes a lot of time and effort to get right, but we know we are capable of playing like that."

Last Sunday's European victory followed on nicely from Exeter's scalping of Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership seven days earlier. Steenson says form and confidence within the Chiefs camp is high and he is desperate for that run to continue for some time yet.

"We know from playing Glasgow in pre-season that Sunday will be a tough game for us," added the Dungannon-born back. "Every team is tough in the Heineken Cup, it's the best teams in Europe, so you have to perform to your absolute best. We know if we are slightly off our game, we are going to be in trouble up there. Obviously they came down here in pre-season and did a bit of a job on us, but we've moved on and if we can bring recent form into the game I think it should be an enjoyable contest.

"Looking at them this week, it's obvious they are a big and physical side. Yes, we've got a bit more of an inkling about them having played them down here recently and you only have to see that they went to Toulon last week and got a bonus point for four tries, so they have a lot of attacking threats.

"That said, we've nothing to fear going up there. Given our own recent form, we know we are a tough side to beat if we play well, so hopefully we can push through our form and give a good account of ourselves up there in Scotland."

As well as recent form, Steenson also believes lessons learned from last year in the competition - where the Chiefs tackled heavyweight names such as Leinster, Clermont Auvergne and Scarlets - have also helped in the continual development of the Chiefs.

"We learnt so much from last season," explained Steenson. "When you come up against sides like Leinster and Clermont, playing the champions and the side that got into the final, it was a great learning curve for us. For us it was great to be rubbing shoulders against such high profile sides and big name players. Being up against that calibre of player, you are only going to get better from those experiences.

"In no way did we disgrace ourselves, plus in every game I thought we were very competitive. In the end the learns we took were huge and that, I believe, pushed us through at the end of last season and helped us get back into the Heineken Cup again this season."