Lees ready to play his part

By Mark Stevens
2/4/2016

Mitch Lees admits he is relishing the chance to be part of Exeter’s push for glory this season as he is welcomed back into the Chiefs squad for today’s home encounter with Worcester Warriors (3pm).

The imposing Australian has been sidelined since New Year’s Day having sustained a nasty bicep injury in the away game at Northampton Saints.

Today, though, the 27-year-old lock forms part of an Exeter team who will be looking to move another step closer to booking their place in the Aviva Premiership play-offs for the first time.

Defeat last time out at Saracens saw Rob Baxter’s side slip back to second in the table, now eight points adrift of last week’s hosts who boosted their own hopes with an impressive victory at Bath on Friday.

Saracens, the defending champions, remain the only side to have conquered the Chiefs on their own turf in over 14 months and Lees is hopeful the Devon club can maintain their strong foothold at fortress Sandy Park this afternoon.

“It’s a record we’re really proud of,” said Lees, who joined the Chiefs at the start of last season from London Welsh. “We do play our best rugby here, so it’s nice that I’m making my comeback here rather than somewhere on the road. Hearing the fans cheering you on, it does drive you on that little bit more.”

The return of Lees, however, is the latest boost for head coach Baxter, who in recent weeks has also seen the return of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Dave Ewers, Henry Slade and Damian Welch from long-term injuries.

Having that quintet back for such an important phase of the season could not have been better timed and Lees is hopeful of playing his part over the remainder of the campaign.

“Twelve weeks of nothing but rehab can be tedious work, but it’s credit to the physios and the S&C team, who have pushed me and drove me to get back, fit and ready to play before the end of the season.

“I know Sladey has mentioned it, but there have been four or five of us in there to bounce off one another and pick each other up during the tough days,” explained Lees. “You don’t wish for it, but it’s nice to have guys there and keep your spirits up.”

In Lees’ absence, though, the Chiefs have continued to flourish, both in the Premiership and European Champions Cup, and he says he returns to duty at an exciting stage of the season.

“The first aim is to be in that top four,” he said. “After that we’ll try and lock in a home semi-final, if we can. As a team we’ve been going well whilst I’ve been out, so hopefully now I can come back and contribute something this back end of the season.

“We’ve got two home, two away to play in the league and the first of those games is Worcester this weekend. They’re a side who are going well, they’ve won four in a row, and we’ve got a European quarter-final to play for next week, so it’s exciting times.

“First and foremost, we have to focus on the Worcester game. They have a good forward pack, they defend set-pieces very well and they play an expansive game, where they like to throw the ball around a bit. Looking at them this week you can see they have lots of threats all over the park, so we’ve got to be switched on from the outset.”