Townsend out to make up for lost time
By Mark Stevens
29/9/20
By his own admission, Stu Townsend admits watching his Exeter Chiefs team-mates power on in both the Gallagher Premiership and the Heineken Champions Cup this season, has been a tough watch.
However, as the Devonians head towards a thrilling conclusion to the disrupted 2019/20 season, which includes a first-ever appearance in the European Cup Final, the 24-year-old is himself looking to get his campaign firmly back on track.
Townsend will make his first Chiefs start since January against visiting London Irish, having finally recovered from back-to-back injuries, including a dislocated elbow sustained in an in-house game played prior to restart last month.
Now, fighting-fit once again, the gifted scrum-half is looking to make up for lost time, hoping to stake his own claim to be part of a big month ahead for the Chiefs.
“It’s exciting times,” he says. “For me, personally, it will be good to get back out there again. I’ve had a couple of tough years in terms of injuries, but now I’m looking to put all that behind me.
“It’s a been a long time since I last played. Not only did I have the injuries, but with lockdown as well, I’m just really looking forward to getting back out there. I’m sure I’ll be blowing a bit, but the key thing for me is to get some game time under my belt and help the team as much as possible.”
In his absence, Rob Baxter’s side have been flying since returning to action in August. Seven victories out of eight have secured not only home advantage in the Premiership play-offs, but also a mouth-watering European Final showdown with Racing 92 at Ashton Gate.
“There’s a real good feel-good factor amongst the boys at the moment,” explained Townsend, another product of the club’s hugely successful Academy set-up. “Obviously, we had the high of the weekend [beating Toulouse] and now it’s up to us as a group on Wednesday to carry it forward.
“Those who played at the weekend put in a huge shift and it’s set the benchmark that we have to hit. Since we’ve come back from lockdown, it doesn’t matter what team we’ve been putting out, whoever is playing is stepping up and putting in a performance.
“As a squad, we now we’ve got three or four huge weeks ahead of us. We have the potential to lift two major caps, so everyone is buying into what we have to do. As I said, there is a real excitement and a buzz about the place, but equally we know we have to get the hard work done, both in training and in games.”
With a play-off place assured and London Irish playing for nothing other than personal pride, it’s easy to believe that this Round 21 match-up is nothing more than a glorified training run for both clubs.
Townsend, however, disagrees, adding: “Every game in the Premiership is tough. It doesn’t matter when you play or who you play, you’ve got to be ready for a battle. Irish, we know, have some very good players in their squad and it’s all or nothing for them coming down here. They’ve got nothing to lose playing us, so that makes them very dangerous.
“What we have to do is focus on ourselves, make sure we do everything we talked about, and look to combat the threat that Irish will bring. For players like myself, who need game time, and others in the squad, these are important games for us. We’ve got only a few games left this season, a short break after that, and then we’re back into it again.
“We’re going to have boys away for international duty those early weeks of the new season, so it’s a great opportunity for all of us to get more experience under our belts and look to put our game on them.”
Like with the rest of the Chiefs squad, Townsend finds himself in a real battle for a starting spot. Scottish international Sam Hidalgo-Clyne has settled well to his new surroundings at Sandy Park, while the Maunder brothers - Jack and Sam - and young Joe Snow also offer creditable challenges to his claims for the No.9 jersey.
“It’s good to have that competition,” says Townsend, who helped the Chiefs to lift the Premiership title in 2017. “Without the competition, whatever position it is in the squad, we wouldn’t be where we are now. I love the battle, because it brings the best out in you. Whether it’s Jack, the two Sam’s, Snowy, we’re all pushing each other to be better each day.”
And helping oversee all of them is skills coach Ricky Pellow, a man described as a ‘legend’ by Townsend, who has worked with the former Bath and Worcester scrum-half since his school days.
“Ricky is a legend,” he added. “Whatever the day, whatever the time, he’s always there for you. Whatever you want to do, if you want to have extra practice, try things out, he’s always that helping hand. If there is anything to do with skills or games, Ricky’s at the heart of it. He’s brilliant for us as nines.”