Hepburn enjoys dream start

By Nigel Walrond

Exeter Chiefs loose-head prop Alex Hepburn admitted it was hard to keep the smile off his face after he discovered he was going to make his first Premiership start against Leicester Tigers.

The 22-year-old Australian-born former England Under-20 forward got the nod in the captain’s run on Friday after Ben Moon failed a fitness test on an ankle injury.

He was up against England’s World Cup tight-head Dan Cole, but it did not faze him, and Exeter performed impressively at scrum time to help set up their first victory over the Tigers in seven league matches.

“It was a late call in terms of starting, and I am very grateful for the opportunity, and very happy we got the win,” said former Wasps and London Welsh front rower Hepburn.

“Coming into today I had a big grin on my face and I found that hard to keep away. There are always nerves before a game, but there was a lot of excitement for me as well.

“The opportunity in front of us just gave us a really good edge and we really wanted to take it to them and there were a few scrums where we did that and that gave the team a platform to work off.”

Hepburn joined the Chiefs from Australian club Perth Spirit in January, but he arrived with a knee injury and has had to wait until the start of this season to pull on an Exeter shirt.

“I came over at the start of this year and it has been an enjoyable few months to get to this point and hopefully we can keep building and moving forward,” said Hepburn.

“It is a very special group of players. Everyone says we are a close group, and we spend a lot of time with each other in and around the club, and outside the club.

“There are really genuine friendships all around and I couldn’t think of a better club to be with at the moment.”

Skipper and fly-half Gareth Steenson scored all 19 of his side’s points, with a sixth-minute try, a conversion and four penalties in a man-of-the-match display, with Leicester replying with two Owen Williams penalties.

The win lifted Exeter into second place in the table, and it is where they would love to stay after only being denied a top-four finish last season by an inferior points difference.

“Leicester are a very good team and this win has put a feather in our cap, but after narrowly missing out on the top four last season, I think there is an underlying belief within the group that we want to do better than that, and it drives us on in a lot of different aspects in training and in games,” explained Hepburn.