Hill ready for Wasps clash
By Mark Stevens
16/2/18
Sam Hill believes last week's shock loss to Worcester Warriors could act as a timely 'wake-up call' to the Exeter Chiefs moving forward.
The reigning champions suffered their first loss on home soil since October 2016 when the Warriors emerged triumphant in a low-scoring affair at Sandy Park.
The 6-5 loss not only saw the Chiefs allow closest rivals Saracens to close their lead at the top to just two points, but signalled back-to-back losses in the top flight, having come unstuck at Newcastle in their opening league game of 2018.
Hill acknowledged this week that Exeter need to rediscover their form quickly and says Sunday's testing trip to top four rivals Wasps offers the perfect opportunity to put things right.
"Last week was really disappointing and the boys want to make amends for that performance," said the all-action centre. "We know we're up against a good team in Wasps this weekend, but the boys are really looking foward to the game.
"If we're honest, last week is probably the kick up the arse we needed. We've been sloppy the last few weeks and it's a good wake-up call for us. We know we need to be better in all that we do, especially as we have some big games coming up, starting with the one this weekend."
Having enjoyed some fantastic encounters with Wasps over the last few years - the most notable being last May's Premiership Final at Twickenham - Hill and the Chiefs need little reminding of the threat posed by Dai Young's men.
"They have lots of pace in their back three," he warned. "They also have some big ball carriers in the forwards as well, so we're going to have to match their physicality and play beyond that. We also can't afford to give them too much ball as that is when they are at their most dangerous."
Equally, the Chiefs themselves have to be firing on all cylinders and the Exeter-born back says certain areas of the game plan have been addressed in the wake of recent displays.
"Last week was quite strange, especially in terms of the score," added Hill. "We normally score lots of points, lots of tries, but that didn't happen. We were making breaks, but we couldn't finish things off. We know we need to be more patient and more clinical, so we've done plenty of work on that this week and now we have to put that into practice at the weekend.
"I know it's a bit of a cliche, but the hard work starts in training. It's been pretty intense this week, but we need to be ready for the weekend. We have to step up our physicality from previous weeks."