Cowan-Dickie's pride at Grand Slam win

By Mark Stevens
24/3/2016

Exeter Chiefs hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has spoken of his pride at being part of England’s all-conquering Grand Slam winning team in this season’s RBS Six Nations Championship.

Alongside club-mate and lifelong friend Jack Nowell, the two Cornishmen helped Eddie Jones’ reign as new national coach get off to a flying start when they sealed victory over France in Paris last Saturday.

Now back in harness at Sandy Park, the 22-year-old forward will be hoping to keep his winning streak going by helping the Chiefs maintain pole position in the Aviva Premiership with victory over defending champions Saracens this Saturday (3:15pm).

With just two points separating the two sides at the top of the table, Cowan-Dickie has watched from afar as his Exeter colleagues have seen off Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints in the past fortnight.

But before Cowan-Dickie gears up for this weekend’s trip to Allianz Park, he reflected quickly on recent events with England and the part he played in helping England record their first Grand Slam for 13 years.

“Obviously it was massive,” he said. “I was thankful that I had a bit of game time in the last two games as that made me feel a bit more of a part of it, but to win the Six Nations and a Grand Slam is a massive thing.

“I think it showed what it meant to the older boys on their faces. You could see the emotion... it was just great and I was happy to be a part of it.”

And having spent much of his rugby career lining up alongside Nowell, Cowan-Dickie said it was a special feeling to experience such an achievement with his close friend.

“It’s not bad is it? Who would have thought we would both run out for England and win a Grand Slam?

“He’s been on top form this year and played in every game for England. He has got a week off now, but it’s well deserved.”

And with fellow Chiefs Dave Ewers, Sam Hill and Henry Slade also pushing to be part of England’s long-term plans, Cowan-Dickie is hoping a big conclusion to the season will result in all of them heading Down Under in June for the summer tour to Australia.

“There is a summer tour this year that they normally go on, so hopefully I can play well here for Chiefs and maybe get onto that,” added Cowan-Dickie. “I am 22 now and have a bit more time left, but hopefully I can perform well week in, week out for the club and get noticed again.”

That means performing in fixtures like that of this weekend is the starting point for Cowan-Dickie.

“It is always a big game against Saracens,” he added. “It was last year and it was the year before as well. I think, where we are in the table doesn’t reflect on how big the game is for us. Now it’s first versus second.

“It is going to be a tough game. They have got a lot of energy and they are good at the kick-chase. We have talked this week about their talents and stuff and we know they do work hard, so I think it will be a good game this weekend. We have trained well in the last few days, we are looking fresh, so hopefully we can go out and put in a good performance.”

Certainly the Chiefs will head into the game brimming with confidence, particularly having picked off an in-form Northampton Saints side last weekend.

Although not part of the victorious side that day, Cowan-Dickie has reviewed the footage this week and was impressed by Exeter’s showing, particularly after the break where they produced 17 unanswered points.

“Watching it back and speaking to a few of the boys, obviously the first half wasn’t the best. Obviously Ali [Hepher] had a few words at half-time and they came out and did what we do best and put our game on them,” said the young Cornishman.

“I think, when we are at our best, that is what we do. We don’t worry too much about what the opposition are going to do, we keep the ball and play hard and this week, we will do the same thing.

“We are going to go there to win the game and we won’t be shocked if we are still at it come the end. That’s when we play our best, when we just keep trying to go up.”

Indeed, with just a handful of Premiership fixtures left in the scheduled season, the Chiefs are on course for a first-ever appearance in the end of season play-offs and Cowan-Dickie says that is helping to drive standards up between himself and his team-mates.

He continued: “We are at that period of the season where we are top and I think that is the best we have been so far! There are a few big games left, so hopefully we can come out on the right side of them and maybe have a good finish.

“All the boys are happy at being top. I don’t think there is any pressure, we are just going out and playing our game. I don’t think anyone has thought about it too much. As I said, it’s a first v second clash this week, but I think every game until the end of the season will be a one-off big game. We are striving to do big things this year and it’s going well at the minute.”