Steeno's praise for Chiefs pack

 

By Nigel Walrond

Exeter fly-half Gareth Steenson was full of praise for the Chiefs’ pack after an excellent 19-13 victory at Cardiff Blues.

Steenson was named as skipper for the Chiefs’ final Heineken Cup game of the campaign, in the absence of Dean Mumm, who was ruled out due to personal reasons.

He kicked all five of his shots at goal for a personal 14-point haul that was crucial to the final outcome, but the Irishman felt the forwards had provided the cornerstone for the victory.

“The pack were incredible,” he said. “That is what we wanted from them and we know what is in them. Their fight was incredible, and their driving and scrummaging was great. Every time there was a scrum, you knew there was a 90 per cent chance of getting a penalty, which was great for us, and those guys got us those penalties, and got us the good field positions, and thankfully we got the opportunities to put some points on the board, and we did.”

He added: “It was not too bad a day for me. I was very pleased with myself, but it is a team performance that I think the guys are going to be very proud of.”

Exeter had lost eight of their previous nine games, with their only success coming just before Christmas against Premiership strugglers Newcastle Falcons, so it was crucial to record another victory as they build towards a crunch league clash at home to Northampton Saints on February 8.

“We are absolutely delighted with the win, but I think it is more for the fact we haven’t won for a long time,” said 29-year-old Steenson. “It is nice to have banged in a result, and to do it on the road as well, and especially in the Heineken Cup, is fantastic for us.

“It is about us getting the results, and we have got that win now and maybe we have got that monkey off our back and we can push on into the rest of the season.”

Exeter’s success was based on an awesome display in the opening half an hour, when they really put the Blues under the cosh and established a 13-0 lead, though it could have been an even bigger advantage if one or two chances had not gone begging.

“We talked about going out and fighting for everything, and I think we saw that in the first 30 minutes,” said Steenson, who has scored 40 points in the Heineken Cup this season.

“We played in the right areas of the field, but we were a little disappointed with how we finished the last ten minutes of the first half. There were definitely opportunities to maybe bang in a couple more tries. There were a couple of times when we were on their line and they defended really well, and if we had come away with another try then, maybe it would have been a different game, but you have got to give credit to Cardiff.

“They were fighting to try and get themselves into the next stage of the competition, but fair play to our fellas, we came up here knowing we couldn’t go any further in the Heineken Cup, but we wanted to get ourselves sorted for the rest of the season. We have started that process off, and hopefully we can continue through now.”

It is the second successive campaign where the Chiefs have done the double over a Welsh team in their Heineken Cup group, with Scarlets their victims last season.

“We just go out and like to attack every game, and it is great we have done the double over a side that has got British and Irish Lions in it and international quality players,” explained Steenson. “For us, that is only going to give us more confidence as we go on through the season. We will take a lot of learned lessons out of this. There are a few things we need to work on, but our intensity was fantastic and you can’t fault the boys for that.”

The Chiefs now switch their focus for the next two weeks to the LV= Cup, with another Welsh side, Ospreys, the visitors to Sandy Park on Saturday.

“We will enjoy this win and get ourselves ready for next week,” said Steenson. “I’m not sure what team will be picked, and guys will probably be given another opportunity to put their hands up for selection as we lead into that Premiership game against Northampton.
“We have set a high bar now (with this performance), and hopefully we can push on and get ourselves ready for what is going to be a big end to the season.”