No pressure on us, insists Mumm

Exeter Chiefs captain Dean Mumm is doing his best to keep the pressure off his team-mates ahead of Sunday’s trip to Saracens as they seek a slot in the top four of the Aviva Premiership.

The Chiefs head to Allianz Park having lost all three games they have played against Sarries at their north London home.

However, as tough a game as Mumm anticipates against Mark McCall’s third-placed side, the 31-year-old lock feels it is their hosts who are under more pressure.

With fellow semi-final hopefuls Wasps and Leicester Tigers squaring off at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Saturday, the Australia international also believes that Exeter’s top-four hopes are still alive and kicking.

“It is more of an opportunity for us, and I think that is how we have to think about it,” Mumm declared. “You just need to approach it in the right manner and view it as an opportunity and then anything is possible.

“If you look at the way the table is and the games everyone else has then it is a vital game for us to get the points in. It’s obviously a big game in terms of our aspirations of being in the top four.

“There is pressure on Saracens as a side to make it into the top four, so it is a key game for them too. But I don’t think we are under pressure. I feel that, if we were the defending champions or in the top four, then it would be a pressure moment. We’re not, though.

“We have been quite lucky in that we know that if we win our games, then we have a great chance, and that remains the case now.”

With Mumm returning to Australian shores at the end of the current season to re-join his former club New South Wales Waratahs, time is now running out for the affable 6ft 5in lock to enjoy a stab at the Premiership semi-finals.

With 33 caps already to his name, Auckland-born Mumm is hoping to add to his Wallabies tally at this year’s World Cup. But, as keen as he is to claim a Premiership winner’s medal for his collection, the club captain insists his departure does not mean he is any more motivated to succeed than his team-mates.

“A crack at the top four would be amazing, but the reality is that it would be amazing if I was staying, let alone if I was going,” he said. “I am excited, but I wouldn’t say I’m any more excited than anyone else in the team about what we can achieve together.

“I feel we are an excellent side and anything is possible if you make the top four, but you have to give yourself the chance by being there in the first place. That is what this weekend is about,” Mumm concluded.