Hepburn targets rapid response

By Mark Stevens
20/2/19

Alec Hepburn insists Exeter Chiefs have to put last week's narrow defeat at Gloucester to bed and focus their attentions to this Saturday's visit of Newcastle Falcons to Sandy Park (2:30pm).

In what was Exeter's first league outing since early January, Rob Baxter's side suffered late heartache at Kingsholm as a converted try from No.8 Ben Morgan sealed a 24-17 success for the Cherry & Whites.

That loss, coupled with a bonus point win for Saracens against Leicester Tigers, saw the Chiefs surrender top spot in the table for the first time since November - and Hepburn is hopeful the Devonians can regain pole position with a return to winning ways against the division's basement club this weekend.

"Gloucester was frustrating," said the England international. "I know we gave ourselves a chance at the end to get something from the game, but over the 80 minutes we probably didn't do enough to win the game and the scoreline reflected that.

"The good thing about sport, however, is that you have to move on quickly. We've got another opportunity this week [against Newcastle] to get out there and try and put things right."

Although Hepburn has been away from Sandy Park for the early part of this week, he was one of seven Chiefs called into England training ahead of this weekend's Six Nations clash with Wales, he was released on Tuesday evening - along with Ollie Devoto - and will be available for the visit of the Falcons.

Like Hepburn, team-mate Sam Hill was equally disappointed with the outcome at Gloucester, but is confident there will be a response from the Chiefs.

"It's going to be a big test for us," said the centre. "Newcastle are in a relegation battle right now and they need every point they can get. We've had some big encounters with them over the years, especially last season, so we know how tough it's going to be.

"That said, we'll look at the Gloucester game, we'll address what areas we need to and we'll look to put things right at the weekend. Obviously we were disappointed with the end result, but overall we're still in a good position in the league."

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