Chudley up for the Cup
By Mark Stevens
2/11/17
Will Chudley insists there is genuine excitement in and around Sandy Park as Exeter Chiefs prepare to kick-off their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign this Saturday at home to Northampton Saints (3pm).
With Rob Baxter’s side flying high, both in the Aviva Premiership and European Champions Cup, it may be a change of competition for the Devonians, but the quest for success remains as strong as ever.
Scrum-half Chudley is set to be part of a strong Chiefs outfit, who will be looking to kick-start their latest Cup adventure on a high note.
In recent seasons, the Chiefs have used the Anglo-Welsh Cup as not only a tournament to blood some of the club’s highly-rated youngsters, but also give some much-needed game time to senior stars and others who are battling their way back to fitness after injuries.
This season will be no different with Skills Coach Ricky Pellow again assuming charge of the Chiefs, who have made it to the last three finals in the competition, ironically defeating Northampton at Sandy Park back in 2014 to lift their first piece of major silverware.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s opener, Chudley talked up not only the excitement in and around the Exeter camp, but also the importance of players making the most of their opportunities, particularly with squad places up for grabs in the coming weeks due to the Autumn internationals.
“I think we’re all really looking forward to it,” said the 29-year-old. “We’ve got a good bunch of boys together, we’re all excited, and because it’s at Sandy Park first up, it’s going to be awesome to play in front of the home fans.
“Northampton, we know, will be tough. Like ourselves, they’ve tended to go after their competition strongly as well and if you look at their results in the A League this season, they’re five from five in that, it shows - a bit like ourselves - that have good strength in depth. I think come Saturday, you’ll have two teams who will be going at it hard from the off.”
Unlike Premiership or European weekends, where line-ups don’t tend to change a huge amount, Chudley knows both clubs will be using the next fortnight at least to look at personnel and different options.
“The best thing from our perspective is to focus on ourselves,” added Chudley, who joined the Chiefs in 2012 from top flight rivals Newcastle Falcons. “As a team we haven’t tended to look too much at what they will do or who they will pick, it’s been more about getting our own processes in places and looking to how we want to play the game.
“As I said, it’s the first game in this block and we want to go out on Saturday and put on a good show. We’re at home, it should be a good crowd, and hopefully we can put on a bit of a show for the fans.”
And as one of the more senior stars included in the Chiefs mix this weekend, Chudley will be expected to lead from the front as they plot the downfall of the East Midlanders.
“I guess all the senior guys try to help where we can,” continued Chudley. “That said, a lot of the young players have been in our system for a while now. They know what is expected of them and how we want to play, so I guess it’s about us all trying to put our best foot forward collectively.”