Sireli's Euro quest

 

By Mark Stevens

Fijian force Sireli Naqelevuki says he and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates cannot wait to get stuck into the demands of European Rugby's top competition when it gets underway this weekend.

In what is a mouth-watering, first-ever Heineken Cup fixture for the ambitious Devon club - Naqelevuki and his fellow Chiefs will head across the Irish Sea to face reigning champions Leinster at the RDS on Saturday (3.40pm).

For many of the squad at Sandy Park, including Naqelevuki himself, Saturday's clash will be their first involvement in the tournament, which sees the cream of Northern Hemisphere rugby battle it out for honours.

And ahead of the trip to Dublin, the imposing 31-year-old back admits he is keen to play a key role for the Chiefs in their debut outing. He said: "We are all really looking forward to playing Heineken Cup rugby. It will be a good test to see what the standards are like and it will be a big experience for us. It will be the same for us as it was against Harlequins - it's good for us to go into the game as underdogs."

Last weekend the Chiefs emphatically returned to winning ways in the Aviva Premiership as they swept aside defending champions Harlequins 42-28 on home soil.

Rob Baxter's side ran in five tries during that victory, including a late effort from Naqelevuki, who has impressed many within the English game since his arrival from South African Super 15 outfit Stormers.

As always, Naqelevuki was modest in his review of his own performance, stating: "I was just lucky to be in the right position to score the try, it was good work from everyone in the team that led to the try."

In what was an outstanding display from the Chiefs last time out, the overseas star says the club must look to pick up from where they left off against their illustrious Irish hosts.

"It was good, hard work from the boys and we deserved the win against Harlequins," he said. "It is all about us, if we are not ready mentally like last week, we get beaten. This week we were ready and we just came out and played our best. We are a good team, everyone knows that, it just depends on us on the day.

"Last week we could have won but we didn't come out to win but this week we did and showed the right mentality. If we want to win, we can win. And it is good to play at home because the fans are part of the team. When they are cheering you can feel the support and the boys love it."