Title win is 'just reward' - Parling

By Mark Stevens
30/5/17

Geoff Parling believes Exeter Chiefs winning the Aviva Premiership title for the first time was “just reward” for a magnificent season for the Devon club.

Parling collected his third winners’ medal at Twickenham, helping Rob Baxter’s side to overcome rivals Wasps 23-20 after extra time.

And for the 33-year-old lock it was the perfect way to sign off his two-year stint with the Chiefs before he heads to the other side of the world to take up playing opportunities in Japan and then Australia.

The England international was again a formidable force within the Exeter pack of forwards, helping to deliver a truly telling contribution to overcome Dai Young’s side at HQ.

Having been part and parcel of the Chiefs side that lost 12 months earlier to Saracens in the Premiership Final, Parling acknowledged post-match that the feeling and the mood inside the Exeter camp was much different to that of the previous year.

He said: “There was a completely different feeling in the build-up to this game to how it was a year ago.

“When we got off the bus, it was focused. A year ago, I think the lads were a bit like ‘look at the support’ and were gobsmacked.

“Saturday was all about focus and the job at hand. I always felt we were going to win.

“It’s probably different [from winning the title with Leicester]. When I joined Leicester, it was expected.”

Now, though, Parling believes expectation levels will change in and around Sandy Park and that the Chiefs can kick-on in the future.

“It is just reward for the way the lads have gone about their business,” added Parling. “When I joined the Chiefs (in 2015), I knew the hard work they were doing, and hopefully the lads now will use this to say they want a bit more of it and push on.

“We said the game was going to be won or lost on one small moment, simple as that. It was just belief. It could have gone either way, let’s be honest, but we kept knocking on the door and eventually we got the chance.”

As Parling pointed out, the game was ultimately decided on one moment – that coming with just minutes remaining – when the Chiefs were afforded a crucial penalty.

It allowed master marksman Gareth Steenson, one of a handful of originals who remain at the club from the old Championship days, to deliver the knockout blow.

Fly-half Steenson landed 13 of his side’s points, including the all-important, match-winning penalty, to seal success for the Chiefs.

And Parling was quick to praise the contribution of the Irishman, especially at such a crucial time in the contest.

“He [Steenson] is mentally very, very strong,” he said. “He will always step up, he will always want those big moments. He drives the team forward and is a very good leader.

“In extra-time, you are waiting for that one little advantage, one little mistake, but what a game it was. We will take it.”