'Let's build on Wasps win' - Scays

By Mark Stevens

James Scaysbrook says Exeter Chiefs are hoping to use Saturday's victory over London Wasps as the springboard for this weekend's testing Aviva Premiership trip to London Irish.

Having opened up their campaign with defeat at Northampton Saints, the Chiefs hit back at the first opportunity as they overcame Wasps 30-26 at Sandy Park.

Experienced flanker Scaysbrook was among the try-scorers for the home side, sandwiching a score inbetween a try-double from Welsh winger Tom James.

It was, as the 31-year-old admitted post match, a crucial win for the Chiefs and one which will no doubt give them a real lift ahead of Saturday's trip to the Madejski Stadium.

“We won’t forget about what happened at Northampton, it’s going to be at the back of our minds. But now we can maybe now look forward and relax a little bit, go through the next few weeks and hopefully pick up some more wins," said Scaysbrook, who was signed by the Chiefs from Bath during the summer of 2009.

“I don’t think [the defeat] affected us in any way, it’s not like we didn’t prepare or made any wholesale changes to our game plan. In training last week we focused on a few areas we think we were poor in and they stood us in good stead for Wasps.

"It was important we got this win, so we’re happy.”

The victory, though, was not the only bright spot for the Birmingham-born forward who - even by his own admissions - is not a regular when it comes to scoring tries.

“It was nice to get over, it was the first time I’ve got over in the league for a while, so it was nice,” added Scaysbrook. “It’s always nice being out there with the lads and when you’re involved with something it’s nice to actually contribute.”

Head coach Rob Baxter agreed, and considered Scaysbrook’s try to be most unusual for Chiefs, in that it was beautiful in its simplicity.

Baxter added: “It’s very rare for us to score what I’d call an easy try but in some ways [Wasps wing] Christian Wade fumbling the ball and the way we managed to produce that score was one of the simplest tries we’ve ever scored. Normally we seem to have to go through about ten phases before we get a try.

“We got reward for a good kick chase. That’s something we’ll learn to do more, build on our pressure moments. I’m pleased with a lot of what went on because it was a test of character and we’ve come through it.”

If that was how it appeared from the sidelines, Scaysbrook confirmed the feeling on the pitch was similar, the only downside being that, having been 30-12 behind, Wasps were able to peg their hosts back to within four points at the end.

“We felt kind of in control and it was a shame that we let them back into it, with perhaps a few too many penalties, so that’s something we can address,” said Scaysbrook. “It would have been nice to finish the game with a few less points against us, but we’ll take the win.

“It felt like we were reasonably in control of the first half, we just didn’t kick on. We started the second well then maybe eased off on the pressure, whereas we need to be able to maintain that pressure through the whole game.”