Witty out to make up for lost time
By Mike Smith & Mark Stevens
15/1/20
Will Witty says he’s looking to make up for lost time, after finally making his Exeter Chiefs debut in last weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup draw at Glasgow Warriors.
It’s been a frustrating six months for the Yorkshire-born forward, who swapped life in the North East with Newcastle Falcons for a new start with the Chiefs in Devon.
An ankle injury sustained in the Premiership Shield Final against Saracens last May meant Witty arrived at Sandy Park having just undergone surgery and straight into rehab with the club’s medical staff.
Months of determined work behind the scenes, however, have now paid dividends and having got up and running with a couple of performances for the Exeter Braves, the 24-year-old finally got to feature for the Chiefs up at Scotstoun in his side’s 31-31 draw.
That three-point haul for Rob Baxter’s side guaranteed they advanced into the last eight of Europe’s top club competition, but the job is far from over as they will be targeting victory over visiting La Rochelle to ensure they have home advantage in April’s quarter-finals.
"We've got the quarter-final in the bag, but now we're keen to get out there this week and secure the home quarter-final,” he said. “In Europe, it makes a massive difference to have that home advantage. It's in our hands, so that'll be the biggest job for us to nail down this week."
Certainly, the Chiefs will head into this weekend’s game brimming with confidence, having not been defeated in any competition since Bristol Bears won at Sandy Park in the Premiership back in November.
And Witty says the feel-good factor around the club right now is helping to drive performances, of which he is keen to play a lead role having regained full fitness.
“It's been a long time coming with the injury,” he said. “I managed to get back fit a month or so ago and I got a couple of run-outs for the A team. I'm over the moon to get my first-team debut now. It couldn't have been a closer game – and it was just a shame we couldn't come away with the win at the end.”
Witty was introduced as a second half replacement for South African lock Jannes Kirsten, himself a new arrival at the Chiefs this summer.
"It was interesting watching from the bench,” he added: “Coming on, all you can do is the job in front of you. It was obviously a tough game to come into and, like I said, it was just unfortunate that we couldn't steal it at the end there."
Witty was referring to Stuart Hogg’s last-gasp, 60-metre penalty, which cannoned off the crossbar with the last play of the game.
It put to a close a hard-fought battle for the Chiefs, who ahead of kick-off not only had to overcome injury and illness in the camp, but also a late arrival to the game after the team bus was forced to re-route around the back streets of Glasgow due to a large-scale march which was occurring in and around the team’s hotel in the city centre.
"There was plenty of excuses out there that the boys could have used, but instead the boys just cracked on with it and showed some real character,” said Witty. “We stuck in there and that's what the Chiefs are all about."