Dollman relishing last four clash

By Howard Lloyd
13/5/2016

Phil Dollman insists that Exeter Chiefs are relishing the challenge of knockout rugby now that the regular Aviva Premiership season is over.

The Chiefs tackle Wasps at Sandy Park in the second of the semi-finals a week tomorrow as they go in search of a maiden Premiership title.

Dollman stressed the need to stay focused on the visit of Dai Young's men next week, but conceded that the ultimate prize was now within touching distance for the club.

"We are two good performances away from being the champions, so it is exciting to think like that because we've never been here before," said the 30-year-old. "We will take it as it is, analyse, train well and perform well on the day because it is a one-off semi-final and anyone can win it.

"You don't have to look at the league anymore and think of the different connotations like if we win, lose or draw or get a bonus point. At the same time, we have to keep our heads and concentrate on the job at hand."

The Devonians enjoyed a one-sided 24-3 victory over the Ricoh Arena outfit less than two weeks ago – a result which proved crucial in the race for second place. It was also a modicum of revenge for Wasps' dramatic 25-24 success in the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup, but Dollman is not reading too much into their latest win.

"Wasps will be different," he said. "It was a tough situation for them the last time they were here after a big loss (to Saracens) in the European Cup.

"It should be a great atmosphere. It is always loud at Sandy Park but I think it will be something different in this game. Securing second was big for us and I think the work we'd done in the last couple of weeks came to fruition.  Getting a home semi was a huge driver for us and we are in a good position now."

Even more encouraging for Rob Baxter's men was the 10-try demolition job they inflicted on Harlequins last weekend.

That result, which came in West London, guaranteed the Sandy Park outfit second place against a Quins team who needed a win themselves in Conor O'Shea's last home game as director of rugby to secure sixth and European Champions Cup rugby next season.

Dollman was on the scoresheet as the Chiefs produced a clinical display to inflict Quins' biggest home league defeat. He added: "It was quite a statement of intent. We played some good rugby to get those tries and we imposed ourselves from the start in a highly charged atmosphere.

"We put ourselves in with a chance and we broke Harlequins down by the end of it. There was obviously a lot of emotion in it for them so it was probably tough for them to take but we were really pleased with the performance.

"I think we were doing the right things in the first half. They got a good set-piece try but they didn't have a huge amount of pressure on us. A lot went our way and we were very clinical. Sometimes you can miss that final pass but every pass stuck and every try-scoring pass went to hand. We were obviously happy to take those opportunities, and to score that many tries at Harlequins is something to be proud of."