Chiefs have a real focus - Yeandle

By Nigel Walrond

Exeter Chiefs’ two-try hero Jack Yeandle admitted close games at Sixways were becoming the norm after the Devon side triumphed 38-33 over relegation-haunted Worcester Warriors.

Two years ago, the Chiefs scored two tries in a dramatic final few minutes to snatch a win, and last year a late touchdown by Australian ace Dean Mumm captured the victory spoils.

On Saturday, the Chiefs frittered away a 35-18 lead, and were indebted to try-saving tackles by Luke Arscott and Phil Dollman in the dying moments to secure their first Premiership away win since November 1.

“Unfortunately, whenever we play at Sixways, we always take it right to the wire. That's full credit to Worcester because they put in a good performance, but it’s kind of the same thing every time,” said Yeandle. "We could have put the whole game to bed, but we let them get their tails up and get back into the match.”
One of the problems for the Chiefs was a huge 17-3 penalty count against them. We are just making some small mistakes as individuals. If we could cut them out of our game, we could really bury teams,” said the Exeter-born 24-year-old.

“We get a score, take the lead and then give away an easy penalty, and they get back in the game and put the pressure back on us.

“If we can just cut out the individual errors, we can really keep our momentum going in a match. The aim was to attack the game with lots of energy, we were fresh from a week off, and if we did that we would get the rewards, and we just about managed it.”

Yeandle said last week’s announcement that the seventh-place team in the final Premiership table will face a play-off against the equivalent finishing club in the French Top 14 for a place in next season’s European Champions Cup, which is replacing the Heineken Cup, has provided a real focus for the final weeks of the campaign.

“Exeter are one of the big clubs and we deserve to be in the top competition in Europe, but a few results haven’t gone our way,” said the former Crediton forward, who had never scored a try at Sixways before Saturday.

“We can still just get there, and it is definitely something to aspire to, and it’s good for the whole region, and with a few more wins, we should be there.”

Exeter moved into seventh place on 40 points with their win at Worcester, while defeats for Wasps and Gloucester left them on 39 and 37 respectively.

It is still mathematically possible to catch fifth-place Harlequins on 54 and sixth-position Sale Sharks on 51, with three matches remaining and 15 points on offer, and they are Exeter’s next two opponents, both at Sandy Park, but it is a very tall order.

First up on Saturday is the visit of one of the surprise packages of the Premiership season, Sale, who lost 27-12 at home to Harlequins last Friday night.

A win at Exeter is now a must for Steve Diamond’s side if they are to stand any chance of overhauling fourth-place Bath to earn a spot in the end-of-season Premiership semi-finals.

“Sale are going to come at us full pelt, and they will be our focus for this week, and we have just got to go out there and give it our all, and not let the game get so close,” said Yeandle.

One of the features of Saturday’s win at Worcester was the backing the Exeter supporters gave their team, with hundreds of fans making the trip up the M5, including a coach-load of Sandy Park stewards.

“The noise the Chiefs Tribe make and the support they give us is absolutely magnificent,” said Yeandle.
“They are a really loud presence around the stadium, and it gives you that boost, especially when the game gets that close, and your body starts to get really tired, and it really does help.”