Victory is real bonus for Hunter

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By Mark Stevens
13/6/2016

Exeter Chiefs forwards coach Rob Hunter praised his side’s composure as they finally swot aside the attentions of visiting Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership.

For at least an hour at Sandy Park, the lowly visitors were happy to match the Chiefs blow for blow as they cancelled out tries from Thomas Waldrom and Phil Dollman with converted scores of their own through Sonatane Takulua and Nili Latu.

However, the Chiefs refused to panic and in a powerful conclusion to the match, they not only wrapped up victory, but they also ensured themselves of he all-important bonus point when they claimed further tries from Sam Hill and Elvis Taione.

Fly-half Gareth Steenson (pictured) potted over the remaining 12 points to not only seal the victory, but at the same time break Tony Yapp’s long-standing record for most league points scored by an Exeter player. The Irishman has now moved onto 1,532 points in the colours of the Devon club.

Post-match, a content Hunter was quick to praise the efforts of his team, including master marksman Steenson, who joined the club in 2008 from the Cornish Pirates.

“It’s fantastic and a huge accolade for Gareth, he’s a killer in front of the posts,” said Hunter. “He’s been a key part of Exeter’s success for many years now, both on and off the field, but I also think he adds so much more than just points. It’s a great achievement for him to have and hopefully he’ll add even more points.”

Quite rightly Steenson’s achievements will make the headlines, but so too will the return of fellow playmaker Henry Slade, who was back featuring for the Chiefs in a competitive game for the first time since early December.

The England international played for 75 minutes and showed no ill effects following his recovery from a broken leg and ankle ligament damage sustained in the away game at Wasps.

Like many inside Sandy Park, Hunter was delighted to see the talented 22-year-old back out on the pitch, doing what he does best for the Chiefs.

“He’s a quality player and we’ve done an amazing job to get him back in such good order,” said Hunter. “It was a very tough, nasty injury to come back from, but he’s worked hard with the physios and the rehab guys, so it’s great credit to them and Henry to have him back so soon.

“We’ve got a couple of other guys coming back in Mitch and Welchie in the next couple of weeks, so that too will give us that extra competition and strength in depth. We’ve had a couple of guys who have been in there week in, week out for a long period and playing well, but it’s that competition which really drives standards up.”

Not that the Chiefs are struggling too much in that department, this was their 11th league win of the season and momentarily saw them move back to the summit of the table only for defending champions Saracens to reclaim top spot following their win over London Irish in New York.

With just five rounds of the scheduled season remaining, Hunter knows just how big this victory over the Falcons was to the seasonal aspirations for the Chiefs.

“It was very important and all these bonus points really count,” added Hunter. “The chasing pack are getting very close and we have some very big games coming up. At the end of the day, it’s where we want to be, but next week [against Northampton] is another huge game for us.

“It was tough out there today and we actually played quite a bit and put a lot on pressure on them in the first half, even though it was still quite tight at half time. However, that pressure does mount up in the end.

“We’re delighted with the win and with the bonus point against a side who came here having changed quite a few of their guys. Sometimes that works for a team because they have relatively little to lose and they just go for it. I thought they played some good rugby and at times made it really tough for us.

“That said, getting the bonus point at the end was massive for us. I thought when it got a big tight in the second half we showed good composure, which was good because it can be very easy to wobble a bit and panic, but we didn’t and in the end our pressure told on them.”