Hendrickson looking to impress again

By Mike Smith

27/9/19

After a fantastic start to the season, with a 28-14 victory over Bath in Round one of the Premiership Rugby Cup, Exeter Chiefs Centre Tom Hendrickson will be looking to continue what was an influential performance at Sandy Park last Saturday when Exeter visit Leicester in Round two this Friday (KO 7.45 pm.)

With just 20 minutes on the clock, a driving run from Hendrickson followed by a swift offload to debutant Tom Wyatt saw the Chiefs off and running in the season opener, then just ten minutes later Hendrickson himself got on the scoresheet when a dummy pass left a gap for him to squeeze through the middle of the Bath back row and put the Exeter Chiefs in the driving seat.

“It’s been a long pre-season and the boys have been really excited to get out there and start playing again, it’s been eight weeks of just training, it’s a fun sport to be in but you want to be playing it. It was a perfect start for us, to pick up 5 points at home against rivals like Bath is something we’ll definitely take. Personally, it's a nice start, but we're looking at it as a team this week and at this stage of the season theirs not really a lot of footage to look at and analyse teams so our focus will be on us and doing the things that we do, making sure that we do them well."

Hendrickson is among a host of younger Exeter Chiefs players, who Rob Baxter has given the chance to show what they can do in this year's Premiership Rugby Cup. With a change to the usual schedule due to the World Cup, the cup will be acting a many team pre-season friendlies.

"It’s a big opportunity to get some training time and game time now, with the Premiership cup for the next 3 weeks, there’s going to be a few more changes with the team and last week saw a lot of boys making their debuts and they will look to add to that game time again, it’s an exciting time for everyone involved."

"Over the past few years for me personally iv been down on loan at the Cornish Pirates and Plymouth Albion, and when you get brought back for the cup games it's nice to back in the Chiefs shirt, it really is a huge opportunity for everyone to show what they've got. We've got the Premiership Shield but especially for the guys making their debuts it's nice to get out there on the main stage in front of the big crowds at Sandy Park."

The challenge now, however, changes, as Hendrickson and the rest of the Exeter Chiefs squad travel to Welford Road, knowing that the Tigers will be looking to bounce back and put in a strong first home appearance of the season.

"It's a tough place to go and play, it's a very special place to go and win as well, and that's the mindset that we have this week going into Friday's game. They're not quite playing as well they should be, and last season showed that, but a Friday night game at Welford Road will be sure to be a big test for us."

Coverage of Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs starts on BT Sport 2 from 7.30 pm tonight.