Nowell keen to stake his claim

By Mark Stevens
26/6/17

Exeter Chiefs star Jack Nowell is hoping another big display against the Hurricanes tomorrow can help propel him towards a spot in the British & Irish Lions squad for Saturday’s second test against the All Blacks.

The Cornishman scored twice in last week’s tour win over the Chiefs in Hamilton, but missed out on selection for last Saturday’s opening test, which the world champions won 30-15 at Eden Park.

Tomorrow, Nowell will get another chance to impress, this time featuring at full-back having been switched to the anchor slot by head coach Warren Gatland, who has named Northampton’s George North and Glasgow’s Tommy Seymour on the wings.

Nowell and North have been room-mates in recent days, forging a close bond that is not only key to bringing success for the Lions, but also for their love of lego, which has kept them occupied in the down time between training and games.

Now the duo will be looking to lead from the front as the Lions look for a morale-boosting victory ahead of the all-important second test match.

“This will be the first time I have played with him (North) and you can tell he is a bit like myself, we want to get our hands on the ball, we want to go out and attack and hopefully the weather sticks for us,” he said.

“Every chance you play before the Test is your chance to impress. Anything can happen when you are out here, the most pleasing thing is the coaches are changing it and to see Liam (Williams) and Elliot (Daly) in the Test side was pretty cool.

“Every single time you take the field you are trying to get into that Test team, that is the same for every player, but the main thing is not to think about it too much.

“It is about the performance that week, you have to perform well in that – there is a big squad buy in on that.”

Nowell’s first two outings in defeats to the Blues and the Highlanders left the England star itching for more – and he set the record straight in Hamilton last week with his try double.

“We did ourselves a few favours with that midweek game last week, it was all about momentum going into that game,” he added. “We had an awesome week’s training building up to it, ‘Sir’ Rory

Best mentioned that if you train well you will probably play well, fixing a few errors from the week.

“A lot of people were saying I got off to a slow start, but it was not through lack of effort, sometimes games of rugby go like that, sometimes you don’t get your hands on the ball as much as you like.

“I came away from those games pretty disappointed not to have carried on the momentum from the season I had. But last week I was much happier with my performance, Rory has captained us all this week and it is all about discipline, if we keep ball and build phases we do get a chance to get hands on the ball.”

The Hurricanes back three includes World Cup winners Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder and new All Black Jordie Barrett.

And Nowell knows the challenge they present before the second Test on Saturday at the Westpac Stadium.

“They are very dangerous players with ball in hand,” he added. “It is about making sure we keep the ball.

“The first couple of games I didn’t get my hands on the ball too much, we didn’t have a lot to lose in that Chiefs match, and to make the most of this Tour is pretty special for me.

“You can tell from a big win, you can feel the buzz in the next few training days. Especially midweek, those next few days are very important going into the Test weekends so it is massively important for us to carry on the winning momentum.”