Wolstenholme ready to embed himself in Chiefs culture

Having identified the hard-working nature of the Chiefs squad as one of their strongest culture traits, new scrum-half Sam Wolstenholme has been launched into his first gruelling Exeter pre-season.

As he gets set up in the stands at Sandy Park for his first interview as a Chief, the 27-year-old jokes about how weary he is trying to get used to the long days. However, the quick manner in which he’s began to bond with his new teammates has helped Wolstenholme adapt.

He said: “The vibe’s been really good, everyone’s welcomed me in. We seem to have a really close group. I knew a couple of the lads already, so that’s been nice in terms of helping me settle in. Everyone’s kind of in the same boat in pre-season while we’re working so hard. I’ve been really enjoying it.”

The culture and team environment Chiefs cultivate was an element Wolstenholme highlighted in his signing announcement as having been a deciding factor behind his move to Devon from Gallagher PREM competitors, Bristol Bears.

He said: “I’d say the main identifying factor I’ve picked up from previously watching Chiefs and then now from training, is just the hard-working nature of the boys. You can see it when they play, you can see it in training. The days are long, they’re tough, but the lads don’t shy away.

”Wolstenholme will need to be at his competitive best come the start of the season as he dukes it out for a starting or bench spot in a scrum-half pool which includes Italian international Stephen Varney and fellow new signing, Jake Murray.

He added: “We’ve all got different strengths and weaknesses on the pitch, but I think my point of difference is the fact that having been at a few different clubs, I’ve seen different parts of the game and been coached slightly differently, so have experience of a variation of ways to play the game.“

My fundamentals and my basics, so the passing and kicking element of my game, are probably some of my strongest qualities. I’m a good communicator on the pitch, which helps from a leadership aspect.”

Going on recommendations, the young nine could also become crucial to the Chiefs squad from a commitment perspective. Upon the announcement of his departure from Bristol, the Bears’ director of rugby Pat Lam described him as an ‘outstanding team man’. What qualities does he possess that he thinks inspired such high praise?

Wolstenholme said: “Obviously, they were very nice words from Pat. I think, whether you’re playing or not you’ve got to try to help prepare the team and prepare yourself as well as you can each week. You don’t ever know when there’s going to be an injury, or when you’re going to get a run of games, so I often try to make sure that the way I came intro training each day was prepared to give it my all and help my teammates as much as possible.”

One arena in which encouragement from teammates becomes crucial is the hurt locker also known as beach sessions in a Chiefs pre-season. They are not to be taken lightly, and every new signing well-remembers their introduction to Exmouth beach.

He chuckled: “They’ve been tough. I didn’t really know what was in store but when the lads spoke about it beforehand they just said, ‘buckle up, it’s going to be hard work’. It was definitely that. It was nice at the end to have a dip in the sea to cool off after such a gruelling session.

”The hard work will all pay off when the day comes that Wolstenholme can pull on the Chiefs shirt for the first time in a competitive fixture.

He agreed: “I can’t wait for my first run out of the Sandy Park tunnel. I’ve always enjoyed coming to play here. It’s always been a tough ground, the crowd play a massive part in that, so it’ll be nice to play down here with them cheering for me as opposed to against.”