Ryan full of praise for Chiefs

By Nigel Walrond

Worcester Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan was full of praise for Exeter Chiefs after they beat his side 26-6 in their final pre-season game at Sixways on Friday night.

The Chiefs made it a hat-trick of wins in pre-season as they proved too strong for Championship hosts Worcester, who were relegated from the Premiership at the end of last season.

They ran in four tries to add to their wins over Cardiff Blues and Ulster, and it set them up nicely for Sunday’s league opener at London Welsh (2pm).

"The game against Exeter was everything I wanted it to be," said Ryan. "We said we wanted to go against Premiership opposition in pre-season, and use it as a barometer we could use across the season, and it was exactly that.

"I thought we were riding the contest physically, but we just got outsmarted a little bit, and outpaced, and the game went away from us.

"We had four or five guys playing Championship or National One last year, and they got a little bit spooked by the pace and the thinking behind it, but physically I thought we were very strong. There is lots to work on, and we will reference that game across the year a lot, because we won’t meet opposition like that very often over the next six months.

"The Chiefs are top-end Premiership, they have had two years in the Heineken Cup, and they have gone away to places like Stade Francais, and played Clermont Auvergne home and away, and they learn a lot in that group.

"We were chomping at the bit to go and hit people and knock people around, and I thought we unsettled them a little bit, but their try just before half-time killed it a little bit for us.

"They just took us for pace. They went to a line-out quickly, and we weren’t set, and bang, they were under the sticks. It is not just about the physical side, it is the mental side and the speed of thought, and we won’t get tested like that as often as we used to in the Premiership."