Proud Mumm sees the positives

By Nigel Walrond

Exeter Chiefs skipper Dean Mumm said the players could take pride from parts of their display in a thrilling Westcountry derby, despite once again failing to beat Bath.

The Chiefs outscored their hosts two tries to nil as they attempted to capture their first competitive win over their Aviva Premiership rivals in 35 years.

However, they fell to an immaculate kicking performance from Bath fly-half George Ford, who slotted six penalties and a drop goal in a 21-16 victory.

There was much for Exeter to take out of the game though, as they prepare for back-to-back Heineken Cup fixtures against European champions Toulon.

“The performance was reasonably good and there are elements of it we can be proud of, and we can take that forward into a big couple of weeks against Toulon,” said Mumm. “It is disappointing again not to beat Bath, and that is a key facet, but there are aspects we can be positive about.

“Good teams manage momentum as best as they can, but more importantly, they manage momentum when they don’t have it, and that’s an element we need to continue to work on, but I thought we did that particularly well at certain stages.

“Just after half-time, Bath had a lot of momentum, and a real opportunity in our 22, and we defended particularly well, and we came out of that and probably kept ourselves in the game because of it.

“There are moments like that we are extremely proud of, but there are other elements we have to really nail in big games.”
It is now two successive matches where Exeter have come within a whisker of beating top-three sides, and instead have had to settle for a losing bonus point on each occasion, after their 16-9 defeat to Saracens the week before.

“Eight points from the last two games, rather than two, would have made a very big difference to us,” admitted Mumm. “We certainly realise that, but there is no point getting horribly down about these things. Being negative about aspects of the game is not going to achieve a lot, so we will review the game on Monday and move forward.”

In past visits to The Rec, Exeter have paid dearly for making a slow start, but on Saturday they led 8-3 midway through the first half, and that gave them a good foundation on which to build on for the rest of the contest.

“We haven’t really performed in the first 20 minutes against Bath before,” said Mumm. “We highlighted that throughout their season, Bath have had a real trait of scoring a lot of points in the first 20 minutes, and it was important for us to start well and ensure they didn’t score points in what was their key period.

“It was nice to go to The Rec and fire some shots, which is probably something we haven’t done too much in the past.”

Those shots came in the form of tries by Mumm himself, after he won the foot race to his own hack ahead, and his fellow second-row forward Damian Welch, who showed some clinical finishing skills after being set up by Matt Jess.

“Damian’s try was pretty amazing so full credit to him. The backs set it up for him pretty nicely, but he still had quite a bit of work to do, and he did it particularly well,” said Mumm. “I was pretty tired after my score, but it was nice to get over the try line again.”
It was Mumm’s sixth try of the season, and he admitted: “I think it is my best season for scoring tries. I can’t promise it is going to continue, but it is no bad ride if you can get it!”

Thoughts now turn to the visit to Sandy Park on Saturday of Jonny Wilkinson’s Toulon - a team packed full of stars of world rugby - but Mumm said Exeter were really looking forward to the huge challenge.

“I play rugby because you get to take part in big moments, and you get to do things and have opportunities you don’t normally get. It will be a full house, in front of our own fans against the European champions, and a real opportunity to get a win. They have got stars across the park, so it is a real challenge for us, but one we are chomping at the bit for.”