Chiefs have belief - Whitten
By Mark Stevens
13/12/17
Ian Whitten says Exeter Chiefs will need to show a more ruthless side to their game when they tackle rivals Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday (3:15pm).
The English champions lost on home turf for the first time in a year when the Irishmen claimed an 18-8 victory in the third round of this season’s European Champions Cup at Sandy Park last Sunday.
Leinster’s victory not only saw them maintain their 100% record in Pool 3 – they now lead the Chiefs and Montpellier by six points – but it also gave them the bragging rights ahead of this weekend’s second part of the European double-header.
A disappointed Whitten admitted the loss was tough to take, especially given how strong the Chiefs have been on home soil during 2017, but he says he saw enough in the performance of the Devonians to give him encouragement ahead of their impending trip across the Irish sea.
“Hopefully, we can take a bit of belief from the game, because we had them under pressure at times and we scored a very good try to level it up,” said Whitten. “In the first half, we didn’t take our opportunities to put a bit of heat on them, and we probably lost the kick battle a wee bit too.
“That said, there were good signs for us. It was a close game for large parts, even though we didn’t end up getting the losing bonus point. For me, personally, it felt like a close fame and I’ve no doubt next week will be the same. What we have to do this week, though, is take our chances and hopefully come out on the right side of the result.”
Alongside club-mate Gareth Steenson, Saturday’s showdown promises to be an occasion for both men to remember, particularly for Whitten who still harbours memories of playing on the site of the old Lansdowne Road.
“Of course, it will be special for us,” said the 30-year-old centre. “I remember playing an old club game there for Queen’s University against Wanderers. I think we got stuffed on the day, but it was still a great experience.
“I’m sure the atmosphere this weekend will be pretty special too. There will probably be 30 or 40,000 thousand inside the place, so it’s something for us all to look forward to. We’re used to playing in these big games now, so we’ll dust ourselves down and look to give it a good go over there.”
Standing in the way of the Chiefs, however, will be the three-time European champions, who at Sandy Park used all of their star names and their big-game experience to plot the downfall of Rob Baxter’s side.
“Those boys travel well and you know they are always going to turn up and put in a performance,” continued Whitten. “We said before the game that we would need to start well, so it was disappointing when we didn’t get that. We fought well for large parts of the game, but we let it go a wee bit at the end.
“You have to say fair play to them – to go what 44 phases right at the end there – and then score the try, that’s shows some balls! When you look at the game overall, the key difference was they took their chances on the day, whereas we didn’t.
“That, I guess, is the big learn that when you play a team like Leinster, who are full of good players and seasoned pros, all of whom are used to playing in those big games, you have to make the most of your opportunities. Today, we feel like we’ve let them off the hook a wee bit.”
For Whitten and the Chiefs, though, the wait to put things right is only a matter of days and the Ulsterman is confident that a good training week this week can help put Exeter quickly back on track.
“We need to pick ourselves up and we need to go there and get points, it’s as simple as that,” said Whitten. “Realistically, we’ve lost one game, so we’re not out of it by any means. We’ve had some good results this year, especially over in Montpellier, we’re top of the Premiership, so there is no reason we can’t go over there and get a result.
“If we do, then it will put us right back in the hunt come the New Year and that’s a key goal for us moving forward this week.”