Solid start is key, insists Hepher

By Nick Warren

Ali Hepher says a good start will be key to Exeter Chiefs' season in 2015/16.

The Sandy Park outfit are in the middle of a two-week break from pre-season training as their first outing is not until the start of next month.

The Aviva Premiership starts in mid-October – put back six weeks due to the World Cup – and Hepher is eyeing his side's first four matches.

The Chiefs take on Bath, London Irish, Newcastle and Leicester in that opening block, before their European Champions Cup campaign gets under way with games against the Ospreys and Bordeaux-Bègles.

A good start domestically will set Rob Baxter's men up for a good campaign as they look to improve on last term's fifth-placed finish.

But intrigue has been added as the Chiefs travel to Bath in their final pre-season match – seven days before they head to The Rec for the start of the league campaign.

Assistant coach Hepher said: "The first four weeks of the Premiership are going to be crucial and they can set you up for the season. If you get a nice run in those four weeks then it helps 100 per cent.

"We have generally been successful at starting quick, although this season will be slightly different as we normally go through three games one after the other (in pre-season) and then straight into the season, but this season we have four games in six weeks.

"We do have a little bit more time to get prepared in a certain sense and it means we can squeeze a bit more stuff into the team this year, which should make us even better by the start of the season. Equally, everyone else is going to have that opportunity so it does pose its challenges too.

"We are going to have to manage our way through that six-week period rather than three games on the bounce. We have talked a lot about that and we know how we are going to plot our way through it so we are prepared for it, but equally it is important that we build up our performances throughout the tournament.

"Coming out of it, we will have to hit the ground running because we have Bath away on the first day of the Premiership. They don't get too much tougher than that but at least we have a dress rehearsal the week before.

"That will make that first game a little bit different. It is a bit like the double-headers in Europe where you do a lot for the first game and then you just look back at that one going into the second game.

"It is a challenge for the coaches because you have already played against each other and you know how those systems work and you will be able to tweak and adjust your systems to suit opportunities you have picked up the week before.

"The one-week turnarounds are quite fun to be honest. It is a bit strange in that I wasn't expecting it on the opening day, but it is what it is. We are happy with it and we will tailor our preparations to peak in that first game."

Exeter's European fixtures were announced on Friday afternoon, with back-to-back matches with French giants Clermont Auvergne in December. The sides also met in the 2012/13 Heineken Cup.

The dates and kick-off times for the final two rounds of group matches in January will only be set after the fourth round of games, but the Chiefs will travel to Bordeaux-Bègles on the weekend of January 16/17 and host the Ospreys the following weekend.