Nowell revs up for last four clash

By Mark Stevens
19/5/2016

Jack Nowell says it’s imperative he and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates put on a performance as they look to book themselves a place in this season’s Aviva Premiership final.

The Devon club are just a game away from booking their place in English rugby’s showpiece event for the first time and Cornishman Nowell is determined to turn dreams into reality.

Standing in the way of the Chiefs are rivals Wasps, a side they’ve already faced three times this season, winning two of the encounters, including the most recent at Sandy Park during the scheduled season when they triumphed 24-3.

On Saturday, though, there will be no league points on offer, just the prize of booking a spot at Twickenham in a week’s time against either Leicester Tigers or defending champions Saracens. It’s new territory for everyone at the Chiefs, but the England international is determined to play his part and drive Rob Baxter’s side forward.

“It’s got a good ring to it,” said the 23-year-old when asked what it meant to be in the last four. “However, it is going to be a big game for us and not just for us [players] but for Exeter.

“We have worked extremely hard to be in this position, not just the boys that have been out there every week, but the boys behind the scenes as well. It has been a whole squad buy in and to be able to have that chance, especially at home in front of our own crowd, it is going to be a special one.”

A sell-out crowd of just under 13,000 is set to pack into the Exeter venue for Saturday’s showdown and Nowell is hoping the home faithful will be rewarded with another polished performance from the Chiefs.

With the game selling out in a matter of days, the Exeter players helped to lift spirits in the damp conditions for supporters, some of whom queued for more than three hours in the rain to get their tickets, by delivering refreshments to those in attendance.

Nowell admitted the squad had been taken aback by the interest shown during that time, adding: “Most of the fans were actually out here before we started training, so to see that and know how much it means to people watching is obviously a big thing for us.

“We said when we last played Wasps here that it might be our last home game of the season. You want to make the most of it, but luckily for us now, we have a semi-final in front of our own crowd, which is going to be another exciting game, so it is important for us to put on a performance out there.”

And the Chiefs will come into the game on the back of successive victories over Wasps and Harlequins, the latter of which saw Nowell help himself to three tries in a ten-try romp at The Stoop.

Wasps this weekend, however, will be a much tougher proposition and Nowell knows the Chiefs can ill afford to let their standards drop in any shape or form.

“They came down here knowing they had another game to play, but it is knock-out rugby now and this is the most important one,” said Nowell. “It is a semi-final and it doesn’t matter if you are at home or away, it is a game you want to win to get to that final.

“But Wasps are a dangerous team and he occasion can change. We don’t know what the weather is going to be like, or anything like that, but all we can do is focus on ourselves, like we did a few weeks ago and worry about what we do as a team.”

Nowell knows the position the Chiefs find themselves is down to the hard work put in - on and off the field this season - and he doesn’t want this golden opportunity to go begging.

He continued: “It is down to how hard we have worked all season. To be here in this situation getting ready to play a semi-final for a place in the final, it would be an awful shame to let that slip.

“We are so close now and like Rob [Baxter, Geoff [Parling] and all the senior players are saying, at the end of the day, we are two games away form being the champions of England.

“When you look at it like that, it would be a shame to be so close and let it slip, but the important thing for us is not to let the occasion get ahead of us. At the end of the day, it is another game of rugby, there is a lot riding on it, but a game of rugby is a game of rugby and once we focus on ourselves and play the way we want it, that’s the most important thing.”