Nowell keeps his head down

Jack Nowell may have missed a trick on the big stage last weekend but while he is tipped for plenty more time under the bright Twickenham lights the winger is only concerned with getting Exeter Chiefs back to winning ways.

England’s wing woes have been well-documented ahead of the Six Nations with Christian Wade and Marland Yarde both out injured and Chris Ashton out of sorts on the international stage.

Nowell however, has impressed in an Exeter shirt with England head coach Stuart Lancaster and Springbok legend Bryan Habana just two to have publicly praised the 20-year-old.

Nowell is no stranger to the England shirt either having helped the Under-20s win the IRB Junior World Championship in the summer.

The stage was set for Nowell to show what he could do at Twickenham against Harlequins during Big Game 6 but he saw yellow for a tip tackle on Matt Hopper as the Chiefs were blown away 22-6.

The outcome has done little to douse the flames that are steadily building for Nowell’s international inclusion but the man in question admits he couldn’t care less, with beating London Wasps this weekend the only thing on his mind.

“For me, I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I just need to ignore the praises and the compliments about my play,” he said.

“They’re nice but I just need to focus on my own game, if I have a good game then it will be down to the coaches.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but if I got picked, it would be great, it’s what you think about as a little kid growing up. But I think I have got a lot to learn still, the coaches are happy with the way I am carrying and my footwork, but there are still things I can improve.

“But to be honest all I am concentrating on now is Wasps. We are both level on points so it’s a great opportunity to push further up the table and closer to that top four.”

Henry Slade makes his first ever Premiership start for the Chiefs in a new-look half-back partnership with Dave Lewis while Chris Whitehead and James Hanks come into the Exeter pack.

Dai Young makes three changes for Wasps – Joe Simpson is selected at scrum-half and Guy Thompson and Rory Pitman replace the injured Sam Jones and James Haskell in the back row.