Steeno believes best is yet to come
By Mark Stevens
31/12/19
For many at Exeter Rugby Club, this past decade has certainly been one to savour.
They started it as an ambitious Championship club desperate to get amongst English Rugby’s elite. They finish it today, sitting proudly at the summit of the Gallagher Premiership and looking forward to what they hope will be another 10 years of progress.
Helping to lead the way during that time has been long-serving fly-half Gareth Steenson, the club’s leading points-scorer of all time, and one of just three remaining members of the squad who lifted the inaugural Championship crown back in 2010.
The Northern Irishman has literally been at the heart of the Chiefs rise, playing a pivotal role in helping to establish the Devonians as not only a leading contender in terms of domestic rugby but, more recently, an emerging force on the European scene too.
Steenson’s 17-point haul on September 14, 2010 helped Rob Baxter’s side get off to the dream start against Gloucester in their debut Premiership season.
Given next to no hope of survival, the newly-promoted charges had clearly not read the script that many observers has penned for them. Instead, they made their Sandy Park home a mini fortress, whilst at the same time picking off a clutch of valuable points on the road.
By the end of that first season, where they finished 8th out of 12 sides, the Chiefs were already looking to the future and seeing how they could build on their sturdy foundations laid by Director of Rugby Baxter and Tony Rowe OBE, the club’s astute chairman and chief executive.
“It’s been a hell of ten years,” said Steenson in the wake of making his 300th appearance for the club during Sunday’s 14-7 victory over visiting Saracens. “Ten years playing at the level we are as a club now, there’s not many who would have thought we would be in such a good position as we are now.
“To be siting top of the Premiership, having played in the last four finals, having won a title, and to be where we are now in the Heineken Cup this season, it’s a great place for the club to be.
“The best thing, however, is there is still so much more to come from the club in terms of what we can achieve. It’s a fantastic place to be and we’ve had a good season so far. Hopefully, we can continue that form into the New Year.”
Sunday’s success over the defending champions not only ensured the Chiefs would finish 2019 at the summit of the division, but it also helped enact some revenge on the Londoners, who have defeated Baxter’s side in three of the last four Premiership Finals.
The most reason of those victories came in June, where Mark McCall’s side hit back in the final quarter to nab a 37-34 success at Twickenham. Since then, the defending champions have been foundguilty of breaching the league’s salary cap regulations for the past three seasons.
An independent panel judged that not only should they be fined £5.3 million, but they should also be docked 35 points from their seasonal tally this term.
Steenson, like many of his team-mates, had felt the disappointment of each of those three final defeats and although the history books cannot be changed, it was a more than satisfying outcome to record victory at the weekend.
“We can’t control off-field matters,” said the Dungannon-born playmaker. “What happens at other clubs, happens at other clubs. We can only control what we do here on a day-to-day basis. I know it’s a cliché, but as players that is all we can control.
“Whenever we take to the field, it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we want to put on our best performance. Right across the board, we’ve got a group of players here now who are willing to fight for anything and who want to achieve big things together.”
At 35 years of age, Steenson is acutely aware that he is in the second half of his own career. However, as he has displayed already this season, there is still plenty of life in the old dog yet and he is determined to help play his part in Exeter’s push for honours this season and beyond.
His 300-game milestone at the weekend was a testament to the service he has provided to the Chiefs since moving from the Cornish Pirates during the summer of 2008.
“I didn’t realise until half-time about the 300 games,” he laughed. “One of the lads whispered to me, ‘if you get on it’s your 300th appearance’. I was sat there during the second half thinking I wasn’t going to get on, but I got a few minutes there at the end, so it’s nice to get that accolade.
“Moving forward, though, I generally think that before the day comes to finally hang up the boots, that our betters days are definitely ahead of us. The way we are going – and what we can achieve, it’s very much in our own hands. If we can keep performing like we did today [against Saracens], then we can beat anyone on our day.
“Results like this one will just give us the belief we need to push on in the New Year and beyond.”