Opportunity knocks for Tuima

By Mark Stevens
18/10/22

Rus Tuima says he will look to make the most of every opportunity he is afforded by the Exeter Chiefs coaches this season.

Handed the No.8 jersey for Saturday’s 42-24 friendly win over Bristol Bears at Sandy Park, the 22-year-old led from the front, producing a man-of-the-match performance in front of a 6,000 strong crowd.

It was yet another impressive outing from the Fijian-born forward, who this season is combining life with the Chiefs with playing for the Cornish Pirates in the RFU Championship.

“It was good to be out there,” he said at the final whistle. “Any opportunity you get to put your hand up for a place in the first team, you want to take. There were a lot of positives to come out of today, especially the amount of youngsters that were playing.

“From the outset, we came out firing - a bit similar to what we did against them in the Premiership Cup - and you could see the boys were excited to get the jersey on.”

Tries from Tom Cairns, Arthur Relton, Tom Wyatt, Joe Bailey, Max Norey and Lewis Pearson were the highlights for the Chiefs, whose other points came from a faultless display of goal-kicking from Will Becconsall.

Tuima is expected to return back to the Pirates this week ahead of their upcoming clash away to Coventry at the Butts Park Arena.

And he hopes he can take his impressive on-field form into that encounter, adding: “Being down at the Pirates is massive for me in terms of my development. It’s helping with the little things, especially around the set-piece, and it’s also helping to push my super strengths.”

Such strength and leadership were evident in the latter stages of Saturday’s game where Tuima was one of the senior players on the field for the Chiefs.

“It was a bit weird looking around at all the 18-year-olds coming on,” he joked. ‘Equally, it was a big opportunity for a lot of them, Guys like Joe Bailey, Tom Gulley, it was pretty special for them to be out there.

“For all of us, though, it was a great experience in front of a big crowd. Hopefully we put on a good performance for them.”