Moon ready to shine again
By Mark Stevens
14/8/18
Ben Moon says the time has come for Exeter Chiefs to put all their pre-season work into practice as they prepare for this weekend's fixture double-header.
After weeks of summer toil, Rob Baxter's side will kick-off their latest campaign with a trip to the Cornish Pirates on Friday night (7:30pm), before playing host to Cardiff Blues the following day (3pm).
It will be the first chance for the Chiefs squad of 2018/19 to lay down a marker for the upcoming season, which kicks off on September 1 with the visit of Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership.
No stranger to the rigours of a Chiefs pre-season programme, experienced prop Moon admits he cannot wait to get stuck back into the action this weekend.
"Pre-season has gone well, but there is only so much the S&C team can do in terms of getting you ready to play," he said. "It's been hard work for all of us, but this is the last week now and we've got the first few games coming up, so we're all really looking forward to things kicking off."
As one of just a handful of players who remain from the old Championship days, the 29-year-old forward is set to embark on his ninth campaign in English rugby's top division.
However, Moon's appetite for the game remains undiminished and he is as excited now as he was on his first day at the club.
"It doesn't get any easier as the years go on, but it doesn't matter how much you do in the off-season, it never quites prepares you for those first few weeks," continued Moon. "You know it's always going to be hard work, but it's always a bit of fun as well. We've put in a lot of decent sessions over the last few weeks, but now we're all ready to go.
"This is the time of the year where you lay the foundations for the season. As I said, we've all worked hard individually and the coaches and the S&C guys have given us that platform from which to work, but now it's all down to how much hard work you are willing to put in.
"These pre-season games will show us where we are at in terms of our preparation, but they'll also give us a good test and get ourselves ready for that first game of the season against Leicester."
Friday night's trip to the Pirates will be Exeter's first outing since they surrendered their Premiership crown to rivals Saracens at Twickenham back in May.
Moon acknowledged it was "hugely disappointing" to lose that day, but insisted last season had again provided many high points and that the Chiefs should use that as a springboard to again attack the new season.
"Losing the final will definitely act as a motivation in some ways," said Moon. "It's never nice to lose games, particularly a big final like that, but we worked hard to get there and we did a lot of very good things last season. Falling short right at the end was a tough pill to swallow, but we know what we're capable of and it's up to us to ensure we hit the new season running."
