Yeandle expects a real battle

By Nick Warren

Jack Yeandle is expecting a real battle to keep hold of the hooker's jersey at Exeter Chiefs this coming season.

The 23-year-old from Crediton ended last term in the No. 2 jersey, starting the final seven games.

However, he knows Chris Whitehead will be doing everything he can to re-establish himself as the first choice.

In addition, head coach Rob Baxter has signed the powerful Greg Bateman to replace Neil Clark and youngster Luke Cowan-Dickie returned from England under-20s' victorious Junior World Championship campaign with a burgeoning reputation.

Yeandle said: "Unfortunately pre-season is a clean slate, everyone starts afresh. It's nice to have those games (at the end of last season) behind me so I don't have to worry about my first game and things like that. I've just got to keep performing during pre-season and show what I can do."

He added: "Everyone's hungry for the shirt, they're not going to sit back and let you have it. Greg has come in and I'm competing with Chrissy, Luke and Tom (Cowan-Dickie) as well. Luke had a fantastic world cup so it's not going to be easy to get the shirt.

"We're only a couple of weeks into pre-season and already everyone's really competitive and keen as anything. I've got to keep chewing through the tough sessions and hopefully I can get a chance to perform on the pitch and keep the shirt for a bit."

While Yeandle is not resting on his laurels after finishing last season in impressive form, neither are the Chiefs as a whole.

Baxter's boys won six of their final seven games to secure a place in the Heineken Cup. But the players and coaching staff are already discussing ways to move their game on a level to make sure they can challenge in the Aviva Premiership once again.

"We finished strongly last season but wherever you finish there's always room for improvement," said Yeandle. "You can always push on up the table, keep pushing on and building your performances on the pitch.
"There have been a few things we've realised we can tweak and we can add to our game. Hopefully that'll help our performance on the pitch and we can push on up the table."

Yeandle joined the Chiefs last summer from Doncaster Knights, having appeared for England Students while playing for UWIC.

The Devonian admits he feels far more settled with life at Sandy Park with a season under his belt and is able to focus on impressing the coaching staff ahead of the pre-season matches next month.

"It's nice to have a bit more knowledge of what's going on and knowing the drills and what we're doing, it makes a massive difference and gives you a bit more confidence," he said. "It means you can showcase more skills without having to panic about the calls or where you're going."

Exeter play the Scarlets, Bristol and Glasgow Warriors in August, with the first of those games just over five weeks away.

That means several more weeks of hard graft for the players before they get the chance to pull on the Chiefs jersey and show the coaches what they can do in a match.

While supporters are looking ahead now that the fixtures have been announced, Yeandle said the players are just trying to get through the next few weeks before they can focus on the season.

"There's always an excitement and buzz about the season ahead with the Heineken Cup and we're looking to keep pushing in the Premiership," he said. "That's at the back of our minds at the moment, it's more about getting through the week in, week out of the dreaded pre-season. It's the unsung bit of rugby but it's part of the job and it gets you fit and strong."

As well as going through conditioning work, the Chiefs players have also been fine-tuning their skills - and Yeandle thinks Rob Hunter, who joined the club as assistant forwards coach in April, is playing an important role in that.

"He's very much on the small technical and tactical bits in the forwards," Yeandle said. "The little bits in the mauls and scrums, the very precise bits that make a difference to the outcome. It's been really good to have him involved."