Dollman happy with Blues win
By Mark Stevens
19/8/18
Phil Dollman says excitement is building in and around the Exeter Chiefs camp as the start of the new season looms large on the horizon.
This weekend saw Rob Baxter’s Chiefs squad engage in two fixtures, the first away to the Cornish Pirates on Friday, followed by Saturday’s home clash with Cardiff Blues. They will wrap up their pre-season programme with next Friday’s trip over to Cork where Munster lie in wait.
For Dollman, now into his 10th year with the Devon club, the chance to glean crucial game minutes and get the feel of match-day action once again is something he knows is imperative as the Chiefs limber up for their Gallagher Premiership opener against Leicester Tigers at Sandy Park on September 1.
“Throughout the squad, we all need to get game minutes under our belts,” said the 33-year-old Welshman. “We’re at the stage now where everyone is getting excited about the new season and what it will bring.
“We’ve had a tough pre-season build-up, as you’d expect, but the reason we do these double-header weekends is so that the majority of the squad can get a game into them before we move onto Munster next week.
“Going over there next week we know will be tough, they are a quality outfit with some very good players, but hopefully we can go their match their levels, impose our game on them and look to push on.”
Full-back Dollman featured for much of Saturday’s 38-10 victory over the Blues. Tries from Sam Simmonds, Matt Kvesic, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ian Whitten and a Penalty Try were the highlights with fly-half Gareth Steenson kicking the remainder of Exeter’s points.
That victory came just 24 hours after a different Chiefs outfit had been defeated 29-21 by Championship side Cornish Pirates at the Mennaye Field. No.8 Tom Lawday was the stand-out figure for the visitors that night, scoring a first-half hat-trick of tries, all of which were converted by Joe Simmonds.
Reflecting on the Cardiff display, Dollman added: “Today was a good win for us against a decent side. It took a little while for the fruits of our efforts to tell, but come the end of the first half and for much of the second half, I thought we were in control and were really on the front foot.
“When we started to put our game on Cardiff that’s when it really told. We started to score points, we did some good stuff and it was a decent run-out for us ahead of next week. As I said, getting these game minutes into all of us at this stage is crucial. You can’t replicate games in training no matter how hard you try. You need to get out there and experience those physical actions, getting up off the floor, and turning ball over.
“Today, a lot of what we did was pretty good, but we know we have to keep working hard. Last season was another good year for us, but we have to look to build on that. We did well, finishing clear of all the others at the end of the normal season, and we want to replicate that at the very least.
“To do that, however, we have to make sure we sustain our performances each week and really put the hard work in.”