Ewers looking to make up for lost time
By Mark Stevens
26/12/17
Dave Ewers has experienced some darks days over the past two seasons, but the Exeter forward was all smiles after he helped the Chiefs maintain pole position in the Aviva Premiership with victory at Northampton Saints.
Making his first league start since April after a long-term knee injury, the 27-year-old played for just over an hour in side’s 35-14 success at Franklin’s Gardens.
Tries from Will Chudley, Sam Simmonds, Thomas Waldrom and Jack Yeandle helped ensure a ninth league win of the campaign for the defending champions and put Rob Baxter’s side ten points clear at the summit ahead of their New Year’s Eve encounter against Leicester Tigers at a sold out Sandy Park.
Ahead of that game, Ewers spoke of his joy at not only pulling on a first team jersey again, but also picking up a valuable five points on the road.
“After the last two weekends where we had lost to Leinster in Europe, we needed a response of some kind,” said Ewers. “Northampton, we know, is a very tough place to come, but this is a massive win for us and to get the bonus point at the end topped things off nicely.”
With little to choose between the sides at half-time, the Chiefs flexed their muscles after the break - particularly up front - and the Saints had little answer to the power and precision of their rivals.
“In the end the set-piece was the difference for us,” explained Ewers. “We stuck at it - our scrum and maul went really well - and we won loads of penalties and put real pressure on them. As I said, coming here it’s a tough place to play and we’ve not had the best of records here in the past. The crowd really gets behind their team and it’s a big atmosphere to play in, but we’ve performed really well and we’ve got the result we wanted.”
Now, Ewers and the Chiefs will be hoping to wrap up a memorable 2017 in style when they play host to the Tigers in Round 12 of this season’s Premiership. Leicester, alongside Gloucester on the opening day, remain the only two sides to have defeated the Chiefs in the league so far this season and hopes are high within the home camp that September’s result can be avenged.
“It will be another tough game for us,” warned Ewers. “Leicester, a bit like Northampton and ourselves, pride themselves on their set-piece. The backs they have as well are not too bad either, so it should be a really good game. The fact we’re at Sandy Park, though, is a positive for us. It’s a sell-out crowd, the place will be rocking, so hopefully we can the year well.”