Sturgess 'excited' for semi-final clash

By Howard Lloyd
25/4/2016

Brett Sturgess will put emotion to one side and focus solely on victory when Exeter Braves host Newcastle Falcons in the A League semi-finals at Sandy Park tonight (7:30pm).

The 34-year-old loosehead prop looks likely to feature in what would most likely be his final appearance for the club if the Braves are not able to book a final spot against either Northampton Wanderers or Saracens Storm.

However, should the Braves win, they would be guaranteed a home final, giving Kettering-born Sturgess the chance of claiming more silverware to end to his nine-year stint with the club.

"I am excited," he said. "It is one of those where you are preparing and the guys are tweeting things like 'one more game', which is really nice.

"That is where the boys have been fantastic – everybody wants to do it for each other and, putting my personal things to one side, I want to play for the 23 who are out there and that is what's been so good about this campaign.

"I have always said it doesn't matter what game it is, whether it is a first team game in Europe or the Premiership or a Braves game, the beauty of this club is that the players want to play.

"We talked about it at one stage and thought we were first organising a trip to Newcastle and then to Saints, which personally would have been nice to play at the Gardens for one last time. As it is, we have topped the group thanks to Bristol and it gives the opportunity now to have a home semi-final, and who knows after that?"

With no LV= Cup, the Sandy Park club have been able to boast a phenomenally strong A League side this season.

That was borne out by them topping the Southern Conference table, suffering just one defeat along the way – a 25-20 home setback against Saracens in November.

It has meant that skills coach Ricky Pellow, who takes charge of Braves matches, has had a settled squad to choose from in most games, including experienced names such as Sturgess, Tom Johnson (pictured) and Ben White.



And former Connacht prop Sturgess admitted that having something to play for has kept motivation levels high for those more commonly used in the A League games.

"We talked about it after beating Wasps and said that, as a group of players who have been together training all year round and getting the guys ready for Saturday – which is important – it is nice that we have got something to put our hat on at the end of the season," said Sturgess, who will join Ampthill as a player-coach in the summer.

"While the guys on a Saturday are playing for the Premiership play-offs and stuff like that, it is good that we have something to aim for as well. As a senior player, if you are not getting the first team games, it is nice to be a part of it still and help these young guys progress."

The Braves take on a Newcastle side who finished two points behind Northampton in the Northern Conference in second place.

Newcastle tend to use more first team players in their A League games, and Sturgess warned against taking them lightly.

He said: "Newcastle finished second in their pool and have been playing a mixture of guys who have not been playing and young guys like us. It will be a long way to travel so they will want to travel and perform and progress themselves.

"We know that it will be a tough game against them and we just have to prepare like we have done for all the league games and show what we have been about for the last four or five games."