Waldrom gears up for Euro test

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By Mark Stevens
2/4/2016

Thomas Waldrom believes Exeter Chiefs can head into Saturday’s European Champions Cup quarter-final with real confidence following an impressive home win over Worcester Warriors at Sandy Park.

Second-placed Chiefs stayed on course for a first-ever appearance in the Aviva Premiership play-offs by notching up a half century of points against the visiting Midlanders.

Waldrom collected a hat-trick of tries in the contest, as did winger Olly Woodburn as the Devon club ran out 50-12 victors.

James Short and Ollie Atkins also found their way over the whitewash with goal kickers Gareth Steenson and Henry Slade sharing the remainder of the home side’s points.

It was - according to Waldrom - the perfect response from the Chiefs after they had lost the week previous to league leaders Saracens at Allianz Park.

“It was good we came out and put our game on them today, that’s the most enjoyable bit,” said the free-scoring No.8. “We came out and knew what we had to do - that was to be ourselves and we did that well today.”

Up against a strong first half wind, Rob Baxter’s side defied the conditions to actually lead 17-12 at the break. And in the second half, they cut loose grabbing the bonus point through Atkins, before Waldrom and Woodburn put the shine on a polished performance.

“We worked them hard up front, especially in the first half,” added Waldrom. “We kept going from what we did during the week and in the end it paid off. I thought we scored some good tries and it’s given us real confidence to take into next week.”

Indeed, the Chiefs will take a brief respite from the Premiership to now focus on a first-ever appearance in a Champions Cup quarter-final against league rivals Wasps at the Ricoh Arena.

It’s a game Waldrom and his team-mates are clearing relishing, particularly as they look to write another exciting chapter in the history of the club.

“We wanted to put in a good 80 minutes today and not look ahead to next week too much,” explained Waldrom, who has now scored 17 tries in all competitions this season. “It was nice to go out there and enjoy some running rugby, so now we can look forward to next week.”

Although the Warriors arrived in Devon sporting a four-game winning streak, they had no answers to the power, pace and precision of their hosts.

“It’s probably the best we’ve played over the last month,” added the 32-year-old. “All the little things seemed to click today. We played some good rugby last week [against Saracens] and the week before [against Saints], but today was a full 80 from us.

“They had a spell just before half time where they came back at us, but we came out strong in the second half and got the win.”

As for their European engagement, Waldrom - no stranger to playing in top line fixtures such as this - says the Chiefs will be fired up for the encounter.

“We know what we have to do internally to prepare and we’ll keep it that way,” he explained. “We can put the Premiership to bed now for a week and really focus on Europe. It’s a big week for the club and it’s about us going out there, putting our game on them and seeing what happens.”