Johnson targets Euro response

By Mark Stevens

Tom Johnson insists it’s not all ‘doom and gloom’ within the Exeter Chiefs camp despite kicking off their Champions Cup campaign with a 25-13 defeat at the Ospreys on Sunday.

For large periods at the Liberty Stadium there was little to choose between either team, but the boot of Welsh international Dan Biggar, plus a late interception try for Josh Matavesi, meant Rob
Baxter’s side headed home pointless from their exploits in Swansea.

Now the Chiefs must look to respond at the first attempt, hosting Top 14 visitors Bordeaux-Begles in Saturday’s Round Two encounter at Sandy Park (7:45pm).

The French outfit sat out their own Round One encounter against rivals Clermont-Auvergne last weekend due to the tragic scenes in Paris, but they’ll be primed for action this weekend as they prepare to head across the English Channel.

“We were probably our own worst enemies at the weekend,” said Johnson, who came on as a second half replacement. “Balls weren’t quite sticking like that have the last few weeks, but credit to the Ospreys as they played the pressure game well and once they got the interception try, we were always chasing the game.”

It was indeed a disappointing outcome for the visitors, who had come into the game on the back of three successive Premiership victories. However, England international Johnson is confident the Devon club can respond with a big display this weekend.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, we know we can play much better than we did at the weekend,” he added. “Now we’ve got a big week to prepare for this game, so we’ll dust ourselves off, go through a few things and look to put in a big performance at Sandy Park.

“If you look at how we’ve played in the build-up to that game, we’ve done really well and it’s important we focus on those positives. We know last week wasn’t a great performance from us, but it’s a different competition, a different environment for the boys and we came up against a team full of experience, internationals and a few British Lions in there as well.

“Unfortunately we got into a bit of an arm wrestle with them, which we said we didn’t want to do, and in the end we paid the price. Whereas in the Premiership you may make a mistake and get the chance to redeem yourselves, at this level everything is seized upon and that’s something we will need to learn from moving forward.”

Tickets for Saturday’s encounter are still available either online by clicking here or through the Trading Post, which is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm.