Williams looks to build on Cup victory
By Mark Stevens
16/2/23
Mike Williams admits he has been ‘hugely impressed’ by the talent pool within the youth ranks at Exeter Chiefs since his recent arrival from Gallagher Premiership rivals Bath Rugby.
The 31-year-old forward was one of the more experienced names that helped the Devon club see off Sale Sharks 43-3 in last weekend’s Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final at Sandy Park.
It was Williams’ first-team debut for the club and he was delighted to play his part as the Chiefs secured a 12th major final appearance in nine years.
Tries from Santiago Grondona, Sean O’Brien, Rus Tuima, Tom Wyatt Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Dan Frost were the highlights for the Chiefs, who will now face a mouth-watering encounter London Irish, who themselves overcame Northampton Saints 30-18 in the other semi-final.
“It was a really good win,” said Williams. “We have such a good group of young, incredible rugby talent here at the club. Only yesterday, two of the most important young players [Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza] were playing international rugby.
“That’s incredible and will only feed down into the other young players at the club. Today, I think a lot of the boys were 21 or under, so it’s good to see the growth of talent that exists within the club.”
Despite falling behind to an early Tom Curtis penalty, the Chiefs produced an eye-catching display against the Sharks to set up their place in next month’s Cup Final at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday, March 19 (2pm).
“We had a good week’s training and prepared really well, which showed in the end,” added Williams. “There was a lot of energy from minute one right through to the end. To win a semi-final by that margin, against what was a strong Sale side, leads us nicely into the next few weeks.”
Williams knows from past experience that trips to Sandy Park are far from easy and says the home factor is something the Chiefs can build on as they look to attack the remainder of the season.
“I know what it’s like to be Sale right now,” he continued. “This is not an easy place to come and that showed today. As I said, the young guys really put their hands up. There are some talented fellas here, so it was nice game to get my first hit out in.”