Sights are set for Steenson

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By Mark Stevens
6/4/2016

Master marksman Gareth Steenson has his sights set on creating another magic moment in the history of the Exeter Chiefs when they line up against rivals Wasps in Saturday’s European Champions Cup quarter-final (3:15pm).

During his eight-year stint at Sandy Park, the Irishman has been very much at the heart of the Devon club’s rise out of the Championship and into one of the growing forces within the English and European game.

His prolific points-scoring has not only downed countless rivals over the years, but it’s enabled Rob Baxter’s side to advanced into unchartered waters.

Last season’s progression into the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup - the second tier of European competition - gave the Chiefs a starting point of sorts, but this season they have advanced out of a testing pool, which included the Ospreys and French sides Bordeaux-Begles and Clermont Auvergne to set up this weekend’s showdown at the Ricoh Arena.

It’s exciting times for the Westcountry outfit, who as well as advancing to the last eight of the Champions Cup, are also on the verge of booking their first-ever appearance in the end of season Aviva Premiership play-offs

However, standing in their way in Europe - and potentially in domestic matters as well - are Dai Young’s Wasps, who themselves have underlined their credentials by out qualifying former winners Bath, Leinster and RC Toulon during the pool stages.

Wasps have been the in-form side in English rugby in recent weeks and months, winning nine of their last ten games in all competitions. However, the December meeting against the Chiefs in Coventry saw the visitors triumph on that occasion, winning 41-27 in an impressive display that yielded six tries.

It was certainly a notable victory for the Chiefs, but the occasion was soured somewhat when England international Henry Slade broke his leg and damaged ankle ligaments late in the contest.

Thankfully, Slade has recovered from his injuries and his return alongside Steenson has given the Chiefs two talented playmakers from which to plot their attacking course.

“We have worked really hard to get into this position and it is a fixture we are really looking forward to,” said Steenson ahead of the big match.  “We’ve been going quite well, we had a good result at the weekend [against Worcester] and we are leading into what hopefully will be a big performance this weekend.

“We are very much focusing on what we can do up there, we have won up there already this year and we are quite confident going back up there because we have that at the back of our minds. But we are also aware that they are going very well at the minute so it should make for a really good game of rugby.”

Wasps warmed up for Saturday’s match with a home victory over Northampton Saints last Sunday, while 24 hours earlier the Chiefs were running in eight tries during their 50-12 win at home to Worcester Warriors.

Steenson admitted the impressive display had not allowed the Chiefs to stay firmly within the play-off picture, but it had also given him and his team-mates the perfect boost ahead of their European assignment.

He said: “The win last week obviously gives us a lot of confidence going into this week. It was a fixture we had to get a result in, especially after Saracens had done so well the night before, so we really had to come back and get five points just to stay in touch with them and keep putting pressure on them.

“We got what we wanted out of that fixture and it gave the boys a lot of confidence scoring eight tries in the manner that we did was very pleasing. We have had a few things to work on this week, which is always good, training has been excellent and we are really excited about this weekend.”

Certainly these are heady days for the Chiefs and for Steenson, who is currently top of the point-scoring charts in the Premiership with over 200 points this term.

“We have to go up there with the attitude that it will be a big physical challenge. When we were up there last, we had a good driving game against them and scored some good tries,” warned the Dungannon-born fly-half.

“They are obviously coming off some good results as well and are in good form too, so it’s one we can really look forward to. It’s a big fixture, but for us, we want to get our heads round that we want to go out and put in as good a performance as we can with a good physical edge and we will see what the result is at the end.

“At the same time, we have worked very hard all year to be in this position to go into a quarter-final. It’s taken a lot of effort to get to this point and the position we are in in the Premiership and you do want to reap the rewards a little bit which is these big games we have coming up.

“Every time we take to the field, it is a big fixture and that is exciting as well and we will only get better from these experiences. There is only one thing we can focus on this week because if we don’t get the result, we have nothing to look forward to in this competition. So we are purely focused on what we can do this weekend.”

Ironically for the Chiefs, finding themselves in the last eight is not something that had initially envisaged having lost earlier in the competition to both the Ospreys and Clermont Auvergne. Baxter’s side went into the final pool game - at home to the Welsh region - know a bonus point victory was essential, as was results elsewhere falling in their favour.

And on a dramatic day of action, not only did the Chiefs claim a maximum haul at Sandy Park, but events in France saw Clermont come surprisingly unstuck at home to Bordeaux-Begles.

Steenson recalls it was a strange old afternoon, but one which ultimately brought plenty of smiles in the end.

“It was really nice going into that fixture because at that stage, we were very much talking about our home record, which we were very proud of as we hadn’t lost for a year, and it was an easy focus for us,” said Steenson.

“All the pressure was on them, we spoke all week about scoring four tries because it was as simple as that, there was no rocket science behind it. It is very much the same mind-set this weekend, we are going there to put our game on them and it should build for a good spectacle of rugby.