Woodburn sets his sights

By Nick Warren

Winger Olly Woodburn started training with his new Exeter Chiefs team-mates this week – and already has an eye on the first game of the season.

The 23-year-old joined the Sandy Park outfit from Bath, the club Exeter visit on the first weekend of the 2015/16 Aviva Premiership campaign.

Preparations started in earnest on Tuesday as the players gathered at the University of Exeter’s sports facilities for the beginning of pre-season training.

Woodburn had already met most of his new teammates, either around the club or on last week’s team bonding trip to Spain.

However, he was excited to get involved with the squad for the first time – and has high hopes that he can secure a starting spot to face his former employers on October 17.

“I’d love to play in that fixture,” said Woodburn about the opening tussle with Bath.

“Playing Bath straight away would be quite interesting – I’d need my memory refreshed on how they play and try to remember their calls!

“It would be good to play against some old friends and see how I went up against them.”

However, Woodburn knows he faces competition for a place on the wing next term and intends to show his worth in training and the pre-season matches, when the Chiefs face Bath and Gloucester in the Westcountry Challenge.

He added: “There are some good quality players in my position at Exeter so I’ll try to get my head down and try to do my best to get in that team.

“First things first I’ve got to put the work down in the gym and in training before I can put my eyes on that fixture.”

Unlike some players, Woodburn enjoys pre-season training – which could be a help as this year’s lasts more than three months.

With the World Cup taking place in England, Premiership matches do not start until after the group games are completed.

That means there is a lot of time for the players to work on their conditioning as well as areas of their game they need to improve before they get stuck into matches. Woodburn thinks that will be a bonus for players.

“Having a long pre-season is a good opportunity to work on your skills,” he said.

“I enjoy pre-season, it gives you a fresh start to review how you did in a previous season and give yourself some goals you want to achieve for the next season.”

“It’s a completely fresh start for me this season,” he added. “I’ve only played for one club in my professional career.

“It’s a massive challenge, with a new culture and new players, but I’m relishing it and I can’t wait to play some rugby.”

Woodburn thought last week’s trip was the ideal way to get to know his new colleagues before they get stuck into the nitty-gritty of preparing for the upcoming campaign.

“I came down and met some of the guys before training started and went to the training facility, and everyone was really welcoming,” he said.

“Everyone is excited about the season ahead so I’m looking forward to training.

“Going to Spain was the perfect way to get involved with the lads, it’s quite hard to go to a club where I knew a few of the players but had never played with them, so that was a good chance to get stuck in and get to know the guys and how the team works.”

And Woodburn added that he has settled into Exeter well.

“I moved in last Friday and I’ve been trying to get to see what’s going on in Exeter,” he said.

“It’s quite similar to Bath in that it’s quite a quiet city and the Westcountry accent means it’s not too different so far.”