Cuthbert's ready to roar against Sale
By Mark Stevens
12/6/21
Exeter’s Welsh Dragon, Alex Cuthbert, is ready to roar into action as the Chiefs look to secure home advantage in next weekend’s Gallagher Premiership play-offs.
A point at least today against visiting Sale Sharks will ensure Rob Baxter’s side will be here at Sandy Park for a sixth successive, last-four showdown in the top-flight.
Should that be the case, it will be more than likely the Sharks who will again be heading to Devon in seven days’ time. That said, sport has a funny way of pulling out surprises and with leaders Bristol Bears the only side guaranteed to be playing on home soil next week, there is plenty to play for ahead of this latest tussle.
For Cuthbert, just being part and parcel of the Chiefs mix heading into the business end of the season is something he is clearly relishing. Indeed, for much of his three-season stint in the Westcountry, he’s sadly been confined to the sidelines with a string of untimely injury setbacks.
Not only has it been a bitter pill for the 31-year-old to swallow, but so too for Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, who has often spoken in great detail of the proven qualities the Wales and British & Irish Lions flyer can bring to the party.
“I won’t lie, it’s been very frustrating,” said Cuthbert, who moved to the Chiefs in 2018 following a seven-year stint with the Cardiff Blues. “Just as I’ve got myself up and running, I’ve had an injury and I’m back on the sidelines again. That’s part and parcel of rugby, it happens, and you can’t allow yourself to dwell on it too much.”
On each occasion, though, Cuthbert has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get himself up and running and now as the Chiefs set their sights on reclaiming the Premiership crown they lifted in the rain at Twickenham last October, he admits he cannot wait to be part of what he hopes will be a successful conclusion to the 2020/21 campaign.
“We’re at the business end of the season now and every game is going to be huge,” he added. “Right now, we’re fully focused on this weekend and what Sale will bring to the party. They’re a top team, very physical and at the moment they are in great form. They’ve won something like seven or eight on the bounce and ever since Alex Sanderson came in, you’ve seen that they’ve bought in to what he wants to bring to the club.
“Equally, we’re a top side ourselves and you’ve seen not just this season, but over the last few years, what we’re capable of. Getting to finals, winning trophies, every one of us here is part and parcel of that and we want to keep bringing that success to the club. Having the fans back in, it’s definitely going to help us. They are like a 16th man and when we’re in those dark places out on the pitch, they are the ones who can help really lift you.
“Playing this last year or so in empty stadiums, it’s been soulless and it’s been down to us as players to lift ourselves and one another. Now, it will be great if we go again and give something for the fans to really cheer about.”
The Sharks, however, offer a formidable threat and they will love nothing better than to upset the applecart, not just this week, but potentially next week as well.
Quite rightly, Cuthbert is wary of the danger they pose, adding: “As I said, they’ll be very physical and they’ll come at us from the outset. Up front they are very strong, but behind they’ve got the likes of Faf de Klerk and AJ MacGinty who pull the strings for them. Obviously, DNA wise we know what to expect from them, but I’m sure if they are playing us again next week, they’ll have one or two tricks in the back of their minds, as we will.
“For now, it’s all about this weekend and we’re expecting them to come down here full whack and look to take us on. We’re the same, though, we want to impose ourselves on them and set our own marker down. It’s going to be a big battle!”
The Chiefs come into the game on the back of an impressive comeback win at Northampton Saints last weekend. Down 18-0 at the turn, the defending champions produced a powerful second half showing to secure all five points and leapfrog the Sharks in the same process.
“We know we need a point to be guaranteed that home semi, but we won’t be thinking of just getting that safety point,” continued Cuthbert. “We want to win the game, it’s as simple as that. We have standards we set ourselves each game and we want to hit them, that’s what drives us on each week.”