Home fortress is key, says Yeandle

By Nigel Walrond

Exeter Chiefs hooker Jack Yeandle believes the Sandy Park crowd have a major part to play if the Devon side are to reach the end-of-season play-offs.

The Chiefs currently lie in eighth place in the Aviva Premiership table, but they are only four points outside of the top four, where they need to be to guarantee a semi-final spot come May.

Six of Exeter’s remaining 10 Premiership fixtures are at home, starting with Saturday’s huge clash with Northampton Saints, and the Chiefs hope that will give them the advantage they need.

“It is a massive help having our home crowd behind us,” said Yeandle. “It is the old cliché about the 16th man, but it is such a motivator. When you are feeling tired, your body is tired, your brain is tired, but you can hear all of that support, it gives you that extra bit of energy and that bit of buzz to get around the field and it makes a really big difference.”

The Saints’ game is followed by matches against their fellow top-three sides, Bath at home and Saracens away, in what is an incredibly tough run of fixtures for Rob Baxter’s men.

However, Yeandle believes the Exeter players are up for it after what has been an encouraging last three weeks playing in cup competitions.

The Chiefs have put their pretty miserable mid-winter run of results behind them to win their last three games and leave them in fine fettle for what lies ahead.

“It will be a big scalp to beat any of those three, but that is what you have got to test yourself against,” explained the front-row forward from Crediton.  “They are some top teams, but we have got momentum with us, we are playing well and we know we can do it. We’ve pushed them really close before. Now we have just got to push ourselves that little bit further and get the win against them.”

The 24-year-old added: “The coaches said they would change things around after our last league game to make everything competitive and give everyone a run-out and make sure we were flying into the next block of Premiership games.

“We have delivered so far with the run of wins with the mixed-up teams, so hopefully we can take that momentum through into the Premiership, and really start performing in that.”

Last Saturday’s emphatic 42-3 victory at fellow Premiership side Worcester Warriors was particularly satisfying as it secured the Chiefs a place in the LV= Cup semi-finals.

“The LV= Cup has always been about giving people a run-out and getting them some game time, but the boys rocked up and put in a big performance,” said former Doncaster Knights forward Yeandle, who recently signed a new contract with the Chiefs.

“We looked to up our physicality, and get a few simple basics right in our game, and we put Worcester out of the match with our defence really. We got our defensive line up in their face, and it was a great team effort and performance. There was a really good buzz about the team. We were full of energy and we really wanted to get into the opposition’s faces and put them off their game, and it worked.”

The Chiefs face a semi-final trip on Sunday, March 9 to their bogey side Bath, who they have not beaten in 10 league and cup games since arriving in the top flight in 2010, with the added incentive of the cup final taking place at Sandy Park.

“It will be a big bonus to be playing at home in the final if we get there,” said Yeandle.  “We have had it a few times with Bath now and we are yet to beat them, and they are still our bogey side, but we are going to break that at some point. It is not going to continue for ever and ever. It is going to happen soon. We were really close against them away from home in the league, and if we keep playing with the energy and buzz we have been playing with over the last few weeks, it could definitely happen.”