Waldrom predicts good times ahead

By Mark Stevens
2/11/16

Thomas Waldrom says he and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates are remaining upbeat despite yet another last-gasp defeat.

Undone at the death by Ulster a fortnight ago in the European Champions Cup, the Devon club suffered derby day heartache last Sunday when Bath stole a 13-10 victory in the Aviva Premiership thanks to Semesa Rokoduguni’s converted try, seven minutes into added on time at Sandy Park.

Not for the first time this season, No.8 Waldrom and his fellow Chiefs were left to reflect on the disappointment of another bitter defeat in the closing stages.

“It’s tough times,” said the England international at the final whistle. “For 80 odd on minutes we have done everything we needed to do, then we’ve lost it in the last 30 seconds, which is tough.

“That’s kind of been the story of our season so far, but we have to get back on and keep doing what we are doing. We can’t dwell on things for too long. As we said in the changing rooms, we need to show real character going forward.”

Sunday’s loss saw the Chiefs slip to seventh in the current Premeirship standings, but Waldrom believes performances – if not results – have shown Rob Baxter’s side are more than capable of challenging over the remainder of the season.

“We’re not a million miles away,” he added. “Each week we’re making the right steps and moving forward. Everybody is trying hard for one another, but it’s just little things that are costing us at the moment. I don’t think anyone can fault the effort, we just need to be a little harder on ourselves.”

Certainly the Chiefs showed they have the fight to success within their make-up against Bath with Waldrom insisting the players had to produce a display on home turf following their last outing at Sandy Park against ASM Clermont Auvergne.

“We were hurting after that last home performance and we knew we had to do something to get the crowd into the game,” said the New Zealander, who has scored 40 tries in 63 appearances for the club since arriving in the summer of 2014.

“Sunday was a hard Premiership game, which is what you want as a player. It was intense, it was tight, and in the end it went right down to the wire. Yes, we were pretty gutted come the end, but we have to pick ourselves up and move on to the next challenge.”