Nowell spells out Chiefs' hunger

Indeed, the 25-year-old has witnessed first hand the focused approach in which he and his team-mates have reported back this summer, determined to reclaim their crown in what promises to be a big season ahead in the newly-named Gallagher Premiership.

“I’ve said it before that the boys have come back in from the off-season in real good shape, pre-season they’ve really kicked on and really pushed each other,” said Nowell, who has spent much of the off season recovering from surgery on his ankle.

“I think that’s down to us losing last year, and down to how hungry we are to kick on and go again.

“We’ve picked up experience – I think there’s only four people who started the Premiership we won to the one we lost last season. Those boys that have started this year, it’s fresh to them, they’ve taken experience from it, they’ve learned, they know what it feels like to play in front of a big stadium here and win a good hard game of Premiership rugby.”

Rob Baxter’s side get their new season underway against Leicester Tigers next Saturday at Sandy Park (4:30pm).

And whilst Nowell is not set to be available for the opening weeks of the campaign, he remains confident that his side can get the job done without him.

“Unfortunately for me I’ll be watching it from the stands,” he added. “There’s no easy game in the Premiership, I know everyone says it, but it’s true.

“Leicester are one of those old-school teams that’ve been in the Premiership for so many years. It’s nice for us to have a home game to start with, play in front of our fans, and hopefully we can just continue from last season. It’s always a very tight game, always very close, so hopefully it isn’t going to be so close this year.”

The Chiefs warmed up for Saturday’s opener by seeing off Munster 12-0 in their final pre-season fixture last Friday night.

Nowell did not travel over to Cork for that clash as he is still in the final throws of his rehab programme. The Cornishman had surgery in June after initially damaging ligaments in late 2017, just weeks after returning to the Chiefs’ line-up having recovered from a fractured eye socket against Newcastle Falcons.

However, despite the former Lions tourist’s bad luck, he is now close to a return to competitive action, having used his extended break to recover both mentally and physically.

“It’s very exciting. I’ve had a long off-season, now I’ve really got to rest and go again,” he said. “Last season was a bit of an upsetting one – a lot of injuries and trying to get fit again, so for me hopefully this season I can put that behind me.

“I think it’s important – as tough as it is to miss a summer tour with England – it’s a decision that you need to sensibly make, and hopefully it will allow me to kick on. The big thing is to try and stay fit, and hopefully I’ve done enough this off-season to make my body more robust and to stop getting injured.”