Armand expects big improvement

Exeter Chiefs forward Don Armand is expecting a big improvement from his side when the 2014-15 Aviva Premiership season begins.

Chiefs finished eighth in the Premiership last season despite losing four of their last six games.

That including a record 55-12 thumping at home to Sale, although it was tempered somewhat with the lifting of the club’s first major trophy – the LV= Cup.

Off the pitch, Sandy Park is undergoing redevelopment work to boost the capacity to more than 12,000 for the 2015 World Cup, and Armand says it all adds up to a “very exciting” year for the club.

“We have got quite an important season coming up,” the 25-year-old forward said. “There were some close games last year which, if they’d swung our way, would have meant a very different season for us. Unfortunately, they didn’t swing our way so the season didn’t go as we wanted it to. But we’re having these improvements done to Sandy Park and the World Cup is coming, so it’s all very exciting. It would make it an even greater occasion if we could go and have a good season.”

Of the close matches that Armand was referring to, the Chiefs lost by single-point margins at home to both Gloucester (14-13) and to Harlequins (30-29).

Had those results gone in the club’s favour, Rob Baxter’s men could well have found themselves in the play-off place for the European Rugby Champions Cup – the replacement for the Heineken Cup.

“No coach is going to preach that you learn your lesson and that is that,” said Armand. “Rob is one of those coaches who looks at the reasons why we lost some of those close games and tries and address that.

In the short term, the club announced earlier this week that skipper Dean Mumm is likely to miss the start of the season due to shoulder surgery.

Although this could well mean more game time for the likes of Armand, he warned against players taking Mumm’s injury as a guarantee of more minutes on the pitch.

“It is not nice to have someone out with an injury like that, particularly our captain,” he said. “The other guys will have to step up to the mark, particularly now that Dean is out. We have to make sure the competition is there and that the guys are pushing each other.”