Mixed feelings for Waldrom

By Mark Stevens

Thomas Waldrom heads back to his old Welford Road stomping ground this weekend determined to keep Exeter Chiefs firmly in the mix at the top end of the Aviva Premiership.

The 31-year-old spent four successful seasons with Leicester Tigers, amassing over 100 appearances for the East Midlands clubs.

Last summer, though, Waldrom opted for a move to the Westcountry and a new start with the Chiefs where he has excelled this season, topping the Premiership try chart with 12 touchdowns already.

This Saturday, however, will be the first time Waldrom has returned to the Tigers since his move and the England international admits he has “mixed feelings” ahead of the crunch clash.

“It’s a game I am looking forward to, but I’m also a little bit nervous as well,” said Waldrom. “I knew the time was going to come when I’d have to go back there, but it’s here now and I know how important a game it is in the context of the season and where we want to go.

“We know what we have to do between now and the end of the season – and the first of those tests starts this weekend at Welford Road.

“You have to go to Leicester and play, you can’t be afraid of all the history. For them it’s great to have that history and I was very fortunate to be a part of that during my time at the club, but we have to go there and play our style and attack them as best we can.”

Whilst a number of his Exeter team-mates have been battling hard over the past fortnight in their attempts to reclaim the LV= Cup, Waldrom has been recharging his batteries for what is a crucial final run-in for the Chiefs, both in the Premiership and Europe.

And the Devon club will be looking to match the form of their last Premiership block – when they won four from four – over the coming weeks.

“The last block of Premiership games was huge for us – we set goals internally and when we don’t achieve them we’re disappointed,” continued Waldrom.

“We were really happy with that last period and we played some outstanding rugby during that time, but now it’s about pushing on and taking all the positives from those games into this next block.”