Confidence is key, says James

By Mark Stevens

Welshman Tom James believes there is a real air of confidence flowing through the Exeter Chiefs squad after they secured their seventh successive victory on Thursday evening.

James was one of four try-scorers for the Aviva Premiership club as they enhanced their position at the top of Pool Two in this season’s European Challenge Cup with a 36-10 win away to Top 14 side La Rochelle.

The Welsh international applied the finish to Exeter’s opening try of the night at the Stade Marcel Deflandre - and he was followed over the whitewash by team-mates Brett Sturgess, Byron McGuigan and Fetu’u Vainikolo as the Chiefs netted a vital five-point haul from their trip across the Channel.

Skipper Gareth Steenson did the remainder of the damage for Rob Baxter’s side as he slotted 16 points on the night to ensure the Chiefs of only their second-ever win on French soil.

The victory means the Devon club have now accrued 11 points from three games in Europe this season - and they face La Rochelle in their next outing at Sandy Park a week today.

And according to James - who was one of 10 changes made to the Chiefs line-up from that which had defeated Saracens in their previous outing - the win further underlined the strength in depth that exists within the current Exeter squad.

“I think that win has allowed us to take control of the group,” said James. “Not many teams come to France and win, let alone pick up a bonus point, so the boys have done really well tonight.

“Yes it was tough in the first 20 minutes, they got in our faces a bit and we made a few little errors, but as soon as got into our patterns we kicked on from there.”

Indeed, the power, pace and precision of the Chiefs was again a joy to behold as their French rivals struggled to contain what was again another slick showing from Baxter’s men.

“The crowd were loud and they were pretty physical throughout, but the boys are playing with real confidence at the moment,” added James. “Right now we know we can compete against any side and we’re not worried too much about what the opposition will do, more so we’re concentrating on ourselves and our game and it seems to be working.”

Certainly the Chiefs appear to have discovered a real killer instinct to their game this season - and that was underlined when following McGuigan’s third try with just over five minutes remaining, the visitors quickly regrouped ready to attack once more for the all-important fourth try.

And it was a tactic that paid dividends just moments later as James turned provider with one of his trademark bursts to set up Tongan international Vainikolo to score in the left-hand corner.

“As soon as we got the third try there was chat amongst the boys to try and go for that fourth try,” explained James. “Thankfully we got the try in the end and, as I said, it’s put us in a good position at the top of the group. Hopefully next week we can push on again and look to get another win.”