Steeno aiming to kick on

By Mark Stevens

Gareth Steenson believes Exeter Chiefs have put themselves in “good shape” for qualification out of Pool Two in this season’s European Challenge Cup.

The Aviva Premiership club maintained pole position in the group with Thursday night’s 36-10 win at La Rochelle - a game in which the Irish fly-half was again on song as he landed 16 points with his deadly right boot.

Tries from Tom James, Brett Sturgess, Byron McGuigan and Fetu’u Vainikolo completed the job for Rob Baxter’s side, who will meet their French opponents again this Saturday at Sandy Park (3pm).

The Chiefs head Pool Two by a solitary point from Connacht, who themselves picked up maximum reward at home to Bayonne on Saturday thanks to an impressive 42-19 victory.

For Steenson, though, the task of qualifying remains the same for the Devon club and he says it’s vital he and his team-mates maintain their impressive winning sequence that now stretches to seven consecutive games.

“We planned to come over and put a lot of tempo into the game,” said the prolific points-scorer. “it was definitely a very physical game, but we felt we were fitter than them and that if we could put our game on them and play with a bit of tempo, we would tire their boys out.”

Two tries in each half proved pivotal for the Chiefs, who will be hoping to replica their display when they welcome La Rochelle to the Westcountry.

“In the first half we didn’t make all of our completions and we didn’t finish off a lot of tackles,” added Steenson. “We were putting hits in, but they were riding us a bit, so there was a real focus at half time to get the tackles in and complete the sets.

“We did that much better in the second half, so to come away from home and collect five points is very pleasing.”

With the Chiefs making no secret of the fact that the Premiership remains their top objective this term, a decent run in Europe and also the LV= Cup will not go amiss either.

“We are doing well on all fronts right now,” said Steenson. “We had a good Premiership block coming into this game and we got three really good wins. At the same time, it’s always nice to come into a different competition and still do well.

“This win has put us in good stead in the group and sets up nicely for next week and then hopefully going back into the Premiership again.”

Head coach Baxter was another delighted man after seeing his side pick up their first win on the other side of the Channel for the first time since they beat Bourgoin in 2010.

"That's exactly what we wanted - to get four tries, not get any injuries and come away unscathed," said Baxter. "We did a lot of what we wanted to do.

"Once we got our second wind we made some effective line breaks and scored some good tries. That late bonus point try gave us all we came for.

"The team we will pick next week will be with an eye on the team we need to head back into the Premiership with the following weekend, but there are enough fresh players at home to come in. It is exciting for us being in the Premiership and Europe.

"It's great going to a place like La Rochelle and picking up a win and the competition is seriously alive for us and we are going to go after it."