Fast start has been key - Atkins
By Mark Stevens
14/9/18
Ollie Atkins says Saturday’s visit of Sale Sharks to Sandy Park offers another ‘fantastic opportunity’ for him and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates to maintain their strong start to the new Gallagher Premiership season.
In what has been a fast and profitable first two rounds - the Chiefs have so far recorded bonus point wins over Leicester Tigers and Wasps - Atkins is hoping for more of the same ahead of this Round Three encounter.
“We’re two from two, so it’s been a fantastic start for us,” said the Australian lock. “We’ve accumulated a fair few points in the last few weeks, I don’t think I’ve ever started the season at a club so well, so it’s exciting times for all of us.
“We’re all enjoying our rugby, we’re getting the results we want, and we’ve got another fantastic opportunity this weekend to build on all of that against Sale. We know they will be tough, they always are, so we will need to be our best and be clinical in everything we do.”
Atkins has started both fixtures so far this season and he will again run out from the outset this weekend, alongside the recalled Jonny Hill, who will be making his first start of the season in the Exeter engine room.
Against both Leicester and Wasps, Rob Baxter’s side trailed on the scoreboard early doors, before clicking into gearing and running in six tries in each game. On both occasions, however, there was no real concern within the Chiefs camp and Atkins believes it’s another sign of the growing maturity within the club’s playing ranks.
“There’s been no panic, which is key,” he added. “All of us are confident in the way we play. We have a game plan we draw up each week and we stick to it. We’ve not been perfect in either game, but we’ve done enough to get the results, which is the main thing.
“We’ve worked on a few little things this week, which we know we could have done better last week, but hopefully we’ve rectified all of that and we’ll be good to go come Saturday.”
Despite their 41-32 victory over Wasps at the Ricoh Arena last weekend, the Chiefs have made a number of changes to their starting XV for the visit of the Sharks, who include former Exeter players James Phillips and Byron McGuigan in their line-up.
Baxter has opted for a completely new front-row in the form of Ben Moon, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Harry Williams. Behind, Hill - as mentioned earlier - partners Atkins, while in the back division there is a new half-back pairing of Jack Maunder and Joe Simmonds, while the fit-again Jack Nowell comes in on the right wing for Ian Whitten.
Summer signing Alex Cuthbert, who impressed in the short time he had on the field against Wasps, is named among the replacements, as is Sam Maunder, the younger brother of Jack, who gets his first-ever Premiership call-up as back-up scrum-half.