Slade looking to build on win

By Mark Stevens

Henry Slade says it’s imperative Exeter Chiefs use Saturday’s 46-17 win over Newcastle Falcons as the springboard for a big month ahead in the Aviva Premiership.

Having seen their top flight aspirations falter either side of Christmas due to four successive defeats, Rob Baxter’s side were back firing on all cylinders at the weekend with an impressive six-try success at Sandy Park.

The talented fly-half scored 19 of Exeter’s points on the day, including a first half try, and was pivotal in heading up the club’s attacking arsenal.

However, Slade insists Saturday’s win will count for little unless he and his team-mates can back it up in the coming weeks, starting with this weekend’s trip to Harlequins (3pm).

“Wins like this don’t count for much unless you back it up,” said the Plymouth-born playmaker. “We’ll focus on that this week and go up there and try and do our best.

“We lost up there by a few points last year [in Big Game 6] and they just beat us down here, so it’ll be a good game to show how far we have come as a club.

“It’s important we put in a big performance and back up this win with another up there.”

Having sat out the recent LV= Cup games with the Dragons and Saracens, Slade was one of a number of frontline stars recalled to competitive action against the Falcons

And it didn’t take the 21-year-old long to make his mark, opening the scoring inside two minutes with a simple penalty.

Slade formed part of a youthful, yet quality back division, lining up with fellow young guns Sam Hill and Jack Nowell just outside of him in the Exeter midfield.

“They are both strong boys and my job was just to give them the ball and they do the rest in terms of getting us over the gain line,” explained Slade. “We’re pleased with how things have gone, we all know each other well and we’ve played a lot of rugby together over the years.”

Together the trio caused no end of problems for the Falcons throughout the game and Slade he is hopeful for more of the same against Harlequins.

“I think we were all itching to get back playing in the Premiership,” he said. “We left in on a dour note with the four losses, so it was vital we got back to winning ways at the first attempt.

“Right from the off we went at them and although the scoreline was big in the end, we had to work hard to get the result.”