'Let's build on Cup win' - Lewis

Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Dave Lewis says his side are determined to progress on to better things after their LV= Cup success.

The Devon club won their first major piece of silverware since promotion to the Premiership by beating Northampton Saints last weekend.

The Chiefs are now back in league action on Sunday with a tough trip to Welford Road to play Leicester Tigers.

And Lewis says there is no time for dwelling on the previous week, if they are to achieve their ambitions this term.

He said: “We want to use last week as a springboard. Winning the cup was awesome and it was really pleasing to do it against a high-quality Saints side. This week is equally massive for us. We are really excited to be playing against top-quality opposition again.

“We have six games left this season and we know what we want to get out of it. We need to go to places like Leicester and relish it, taking chances whenever we get them.”

Leicester are currently fourth, battling to keep ahead of Harlequins in the race for a play-off place. They beat Chiefs 21-9 at Sandy Park in September and will expect to complete a league double on home turf.

“Their record speaks for itself, they are a quality side,” said Lewis. “But we are playing some really good rugby and know we can go out and beat them. Welford Road is a pretty hostile place. But it is also a great atmosphere to play in front of, we are really looking forward to it.”

The Chiefs travel in good spirits after three wins in as many games. Lewis said: “We can take loads of confidence, not just from last week, but beating Bath at the Rec in the cup semi-final and also the win over London Irish in the league.

“We are slowly getting there and we are quietly confident, everybody is looking forward to Sunday. With the European competition for next season, everything is usually dependent on sixth place.

“We’ve picked up little lessons from every game we’ve played. Obviously, we’ve played in some big games in the Heineken Cup, LV= Cup and the Premiership. Hopefully, those will pay dividends when we go up to Leicester.”

The improving conditions also enable Chiefs to play their natural game more freely.

Lewis said: “All the boys are pretty happy that the ball is dry and the pitches are a little bit harder. We always look forward to running it around and we hope it will be a good match on Sunday.”