Hayes enjoys Heineken brew

 

By Mark Stevens

Having sampled the Heineken Cup brew for the first time, Exeter Chiefs skipper Tom Hayes says he and his team-mates want to taste more of the competition again next season.

The Aviva Premiership club bowed out of Pool 5 on Saturday when they lost to reigning champions Leinster 29-20 at Sandy Park, but the Irishman says the lessons learnt from their European exploits this season will be of huge benefits over the remainder of the current campaign.

Not only did the Chiefs have to tackle three-time champions Leinster on their competition debut, but also the threat of the Scarlets and the superstars of Clermont Auvergne.

Although the Scarlets were seen off both home and away, the Chiefs failed to find a way past either Leinster or Clermont Auvergne, the latter of whom advanced into the quarter-finals with an unblemished record.

But whilst the French outfit progressed, Leinster saw their grip on the crown slip away as they failed to become one of the two best runners-up sides from the pool stages. They must now continue their European quest in the Amlin Challenge Cup against London Wasps in April.

For the Chiefs, though, the experiences gleaned from this season's competition have been huge and Hayes believes the lessons learned from all six group games will prove hugely beneficial in the long term.

"There is not much point playing these big games if you don't learn from them," said the Irish forward. "Yes, we didn't win at the weekend, so there is that downside to it, but at the same time it's our first go at the Heineken Cup and it's exposed us to a very high level of rugby. I think if we can learn from all the experiences that we've faced, I believe that we will be even stronger moving forward."

For many Exeter players, Hayes included, this season represented their first taste of Europe's premier cup competition and the desire to figure alongside the Northern Hemisphere's elite again is something that will act as a driving force for all the Chiefs over the remainder of the season.

"We certainly enjoyed it in parts, even if some of the results didn't quite go our way," added Hayes. "We've said many times before, the Heineken Cup is where we want to be as a club and you would hope we have learnt from the experience and that we will take some lessons out of it and look to improve, rather than just thinking we have been in games."

Although the Chiefs went into the Leinster game knowing they had no chance of qualification, Rob Baxter's side still produced an impressive display that won plaudits from many quarters.

"We could easily have treated is as a dead rubber, but we didn't look at it that way," explained Hayes. "We could have got through the game, got to 60 minutes in, and if we were not it in, could have thought we were playing for nothing. However, we want to be more than that as a team and as a club, so we really wanted to go and make a statement and not back down.

"We want to keep standing up and go at teams and make them worry about us as much as we worry about them within games."

Certainly the Chiefs lived up to that very thinking as they pushed Leinster all the way in an enthralling encounter.

Now it's onto the LV- Cup with clashes against Bath and Northampton Saints, before league duties resume on February 8 with a trip to basement club Sale Sharks.

"We will worry about the LV for these next couple of weeks, before we then get ready to have a crack at the Premiership again," said the second-row. "Our aim will be to try and get some momentum again because that can tee you up nicely for the end of the season. We've got another big block of games coming up, so it's crucial to start it well."