Hunter 'satisfied' with win on the road
By Mark Stevens
5/12/20
Exeter Chiefs forwards coach Rob Hunter said it was another “satisfying” win for his side as they maintained pole position in the Gallagher Premiership with a 35-13 win away to Leicester Tigers.
The defending champions collected their third maximum haul in as many games to down the Tigers, who had led 13-7 at the break thanks to a converted try from Calum Green and two penalties from Zack Henry.
Skipper Jack Yeandle - on his 150th Premiership appearance for the Chiefs - claimed his side’s opening try, but it was converted second half scores from Jannes Kirsten, Ian Whitten, Sam Simmonds and Ollie Devoto which proved decisive in the final shake-up.
Post-game, Hunter was quick to highlight another hard-working display from the table-toppers.
“It’s satisfying in the end,” said Hunter. “I wouldn’t say we were satisfied at half time. First half we got into a little bit of an arm wrestle with them - and they are very good at that. They choked up the five-yard line very well, albeit there were 21 penalties in there in the end, but we got there in the end.
“In the second half we pulled ourselves around and played with more space and with more pace in the game. In the end, that is what allowed us to come away with a very satisfying set of points.”
As Hunter eluded to, the Tigers were not only guilty of giving away a heap of penalties, but in the first half especially, they did their best to slow the tempo of the game with a series of stoppages.
“That’s an interesting one,” added Hunter when quizzed about it. “How effective that is in the long term, I not so sure. It was tough in the first half, but banging in that score so quickly in the second half was key. From there, we were able to keep the pace of the game up and that’s when the tries came.”
Although the Chiefs dominated for large periods of the first half, they failed to convert their opportunities and were somewhat guilty of playing into Leicester’s hands with some of their tactics.
“We had a fairly frank conversation at half time amongst ourselves,” explained Hunter. “If I’m being honest, we had a bit of a lull in that first half. It was always going to happen at some stage and we thought it may have happened earlier in this block of games. It hasn’t, which is great, and having come through that little wobble, in true Chiefs form we ourselves out of it.”
Chiefs No.8 Sam Simmonds continued his try-scoring form, adding his sixth of the season in just three games, but Hunter was quick to praise the all-round effort of the entire team.
“Sam’s obviously in good form and scoring lots of tries, which is fantastic,” continued Hunter. “What I like is he’s scoring lots of different tries, but equally it’s the guys around him who are doing an awful lot of work to put him into those scoring positions.”
With Premiership matters put on the back burners for the next couple of weeks, Hunter and the Chiefs must now ready themselves for the start of their European Champions Cup defence, which starts this Sunday with the visit of Glasgow Warriors to Sandy Park.
The Chiefs will tackle the Scotsmen in their opening game, before travelling to France Toulouse in Round Two. Exeter faced both sides in last season’s title-winning competition and Hunter knows that can expect a formidable challenge in the new-look format.
“We have to make sure we get the week right,” said Hunter, who will be boosted by the return of the club’s international contingent following the recent Autumn Nations Cup. “We’ve got an extra day, which will help as well, but we have to get focused quickly. As is the case with this competition, it’s pretty much knockout rugby from the start, so it’s important we don’t ignore that fact.
“We have to go after things from game one. It’s going to be a high pressure game, we’ve got our international lads back, but so too will Glasgow. That said, we’re looking forward to it and, hopefully, it should be a good couple of weeks for us.”
Next Sunday’s game will see the first return of a small section of fans back into Sandy Park for the first time since March. Details of who have been picked from the club’s ballot will be outlined in the next few days.