Exeter's statement of intent

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By Mark Stevens
4/4/2016

Olly Woodburn helped Exeter Chiefs spell out a statement of intent to their Aviva Premiership rivals with a finishing masterclass against Worcester Warriors.

The 24-year-old winger claimed his first-ever professional hat-trick during an eight-try victory over the Midlanders at Sandy Park.

Team-mate Thomas Waldrom also found his way over the whitewash three times, while there were also touchdowns for James Short and Ollie Atkins as the Devon club edged ever closer to booking a place in the play-offs for the first time in the club’s history.

It marked the perfect response from Rob Baxter’s side, which seven days earlier had lost to league leaders Saracens at Allianz Park.

"We have just come off the loss against Saracens and we wanted to put a statement out, especially at home," said Woodburn, who is now setting his sights on Saturday’s European Champions Cup quarter-final trip to Wasps.

"Five points is great against Worcester, who have put in some good performances this year.

“I think that is the best we have played for a while. I think we came into this game thinking we haven't put in one of those Exeter performances we have seen in the European cup or in the earlier part of the season for a while so we wanted to come out and put a statement out.

"It has given us a lot of momentum going into the quarters. We are going to recover well and enjoy the win, but we will have a lot of focus going into the weekend."

The Chiefs, up against a strong first half wind, led 17-0 after 26 minutes, but then conceded two tries just before half-time to cut their lead to only five points, before roaring clear after the break.

“We felt we had control of most of the first half, but we slipped a bit in the lead-up to half-time,” explained the winger. “At the interval, we talked about putting our game on them and not letting them back into the match, and that is what we did. It was the kind of performance we can put out when we get things right.”

Saturday’s bonus-point victory, coupled with Wasps' inability to claim a try bonus-point in their win over Northampton Saints on Sunday, means the Chiefs are now two points clear of Dai Young's men in third.

The Chiefs have just three regular Premiership matches left to play – against Gloucester, Wasps and Harlequins.

And with so few games remaining, Woodburn – who was part of the Bath squad that reached last season’s Premiership Final at Twickenham – revealed Baxter's side had their sights set firmly on a top-two finish and a home game in the Premiership semi-finals.

"A home semi-final is what we are aiming for, we are not going to shy away from it," Woodburn said. "We have got high goals towards the end of the season and we want to go for first or second.

"There is definitely a buzz here and right now we are seeing the confidence in our performances which will take us to the finals. We're very excited to go there."