Yeandle poised for Chiefs return

Hooker Jack Yeandle says captaining Exeter Chiefs against Bath on Saturday will be the ‘icing on the cake’ after returning to full fitness.

The 25-year-old had a back operation at the start of the summer after being affected by a niggle for much of last term.

He was not able to start pre-season training alongside his teammates and missed the opening warm-up match against Gloucester two weeks ago.

However, he is one of five players in the starting XV against Bath, at Sandy Park, set to make their first appearance of the season.

Yeandle, who captained the Chiefs at the start of last term when then-skipper Dean Mumm was injured, said his aim was simply to get back playing as quickly as possible.

“Leading the side this weekend will be the icing on the cake, really, as the main target was to get back out there and get my lungs and body working again,” he said.

“It’s great to be out playing with all those boys and it will be nice to have a run out; the captaincy is just one of those things that’s come with it.”

With the start of the Aviva Premiership campaign delayed because of the World Cup, the Chiefs have four warm-up games – home and away against both Bath and Gloucester – to get themselves ready.

Yeandle said it was important for him to get back and play as much as possible in pre-season.

And he is expecting another close and exciting game against Bath, after several tight tussles between the sides in recent seasons.

“You always want a decent run out before the Premiership starts so that it’s not such a shock to the system when it does come around and in Bath and Gloucester we’re playing two quality sides,” he said.

“We always seem to have very tight games against them, home and away, so there’s plenty to keep us interested and switched on during the game and plenty to keep the fans interested, too.”

Exeter beat Gloucester 41-38 in their opening game, and the Cherry & Whites hammered Bath 50-7 last Sunday in the second match of the Westcountry Challenge Cup.

Yeandle said his side have lots they can build on from their first warm-up match, but added that there have also been several things they have been working on in training in the past fortnight.

“You can only do so much (in training) and you’re going to get the most out of live action matches,” he said.  “They’ve been of vital importance and the two halves we got from the Gloucester game showed a lot of things, from a few little pieces to work on to some things that went really well, so there’s plenty we can take into the Bath game.

“There were lots of positives, as we scored a lot of points, but I suppose you could flip it on its head and say the negatives were that we conceded a few soft tries towards the end of the game. That’s not us, as we pride ourselves on our defence and, at the end of the day, if you don’t concede as many, it’s easier to win the game.

“There’s plenty to work on for the games ahead, it’s just about getting the simple things right and not conceding as much.”