Hughes hails impact of youngsters

Try-scoring centre Adam Hughes praised the impact Exeter Chiefs’ young replacements made as they came from behind to beat Gloucester.

Academy players Stu Townsend, Joel Conlon, Will Carrick-Smith, Tom Hendrickson and Jack Stanley all appeared off the bench to help the defending champions turn around their LV= Cup tie.

Exeter were 27-18 down with 15 minutes left to play, but clinched the match with a 79th-minute penalty try and conversion.

And Hughes, who claimed his second try in as many starts for the Chiefs, has been impressed by the youngsters since he joined the club in the summer.

“That shows the strength in depth in the squad,” said the 24-year-old. “What was really pleasing was the youngsters who came off the bench really made an impact and really helped us get that result.”

“They’re really good, I haven’t seen anything like it before,” he added. “They’re really confident, they have got a lot of skill and they’re a quality bunch of youngsters.”

Hughes crossed for an interception try just before the break, running 80 metres to dot down and give Ceri Sweeney the simple task of converting to level the scores at 10-10.

However, the home side had been second best for the opening 40 minutes, despite having a strong wind at their backs.

Hughes said a few harsh words at half-time helped the players step up their performance in the second half.

The former Bristol centre said: “In the first half we were slipping off tackles and we were making errors with ball in hand, but we had a good teamtalk at half-time and after we came out we did the basics well into the wind.”

Hughes was part of an entirely new starting line-up for the Chiefs on Saturday, with only six of the starting XV having started a game already this season.

Gloucester also made changes for the match and Hughes admitted the visitors gave them a really tough match.

“That was a very tough game, and strangely both teams played better into the wind,” he said. “Gloucester played really well and made it very tough for us but it was great to get the result.”

Exeter’s second match will see them host Bath this Saturday, with the side from The Rec having hammered London Welsh 47-7 in their opening match on Saturday.

Like the Chiefs, Mike Ford is expected to make a few changes for the trip to Sandy Park as both sides prepare for the return to Premiership duty.

But Hughes is still expecting a tough assignment against the side the Chiefs beat in last season’s semi-finals.

“Bath have probably got one of the best squads in the Premiership with the money they’ve got and the strength in depth,” he said. “It’s going to be really tough but we can build on this week and put the wrongs right.”