Chiefs finding form at right time

By Howard Lloyd
5/5/2016

Luke Cowan-Dickie believes Exeter Chiefs are peaking at just the right time ahead of their crunch Aviva Premiership trip to Harlequins.

Rob Baxter's side go to The Twickenham Stoop on Saturday in the final round of regular season games knowing that victory will guarantee them second spot in the table and a home semi-final play-off berth.

The Sandy Park side reclaimed second place with a dominant 24-3 home win over Wasps on Sunday, following back-to-back losses.

Their cause was aided by an extra week to prepare due to their exit from the European Champions Cup at the hands of Dai Young's men, and Cowan-Dickie feels that has given the Chiefs a cutting edge.

"It has been a long season but we are peaking at the right time," said the 22-year-old. "The boys are firing on all cylinders at the minute and we are looking good going into the end of the season. I think the week off freshened the boys up. Players like Don Armand have played a lot of rugby this year.

"Dave Ewers is back now and up and running and he put in a hell of a performance at the weekend, so that has definitely helped us too."

The Exeter players may well be fighting fit, but they will face a stern challenge when they travel to West London. Conor O'Shea's men know that a bonus-point win will guarantee them European Champions Cup rugby next term. It is also O'Shea's final home match before he leaves to take over as Italy's national coach.

The visitors have won their last two games at The Stoop, but Quins are right behind the Chiefs in the form table and have only lost twice on their own turf this campaign.

"We need to go to Quins and perform like we did at the weekend," Cowan-Dickie said. "Maybe we need to put a bit more into it and hopefully we'll come away with a good result. They are going to be dangerous if they come out and throw the ball around and play their expansive game of rugby with offloads and get behind our defensive line. If we stick to our defensive systems, keep coming up on the outside and put in some big shots then we should be okay."

Cowan-Dickie has been enjoying a prolonged stint in the Chiefs side after recovering from a broken thumb, interrupted only by England duty during the Six Nations.

His time on the sidelines coincided with the likes of Dave Ewers, Mitch Lees, Damian Welch and Henry Slade also missing large chunks of the campaign through injury.

The Truro-born hooker has started the club's last five matches, turning in some decent displays to keep club captain Jack Yeandle out of the starting XV.

But Cowan-Dickie stressed that, such is the strength in depth at Sandy Park, he is not able to take his place for granted in spite of his solid form.

"A few of us got disappointing injuries during the season and the boys who came in played well," he said. "We have got a big team this year and the strength is everywhere so it is tough for us boys to get in the team anyway so we have to train flat-out."