'Let's give it everything' - Whitten

By Alfie Martin
15/1/19

Exeter’s Ian Whitten is licking his lips at the prospect of facing Munster at Thomond Park, insisting that the Chiefs will be refreshed and fired-up as they head to Limerick for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup clash.

Having seen off Castres Olympique with a tasty 34-12 victory at Sandy Park last Sunday, the powerful Irish centre spoke of his side’s delight at not only avenging an early season defeat by the French champions back in October, but getting the result that sets-up a storming final pool encounter in his homeland.

Just four points separate leaders Munster and next-best Chiefs, who having lost two and drawn one of their opening three games in the competition, have since come storming back into contention with bonus points wins against Gloucester and Castres.

For Rob Baxter’s side to advance into the knock-out stages, they not only have to beat Munster on their own patch, but crucially deny the two-time Kings of Europe a bonus point.

“Performances haven’t really been what we’ve wanted them to be over the past couple of games, but the boys played really well out there,” said Whitten. “We put a lot of good stuff together in attack and hopefully we can take a lot of confidence from it, then transfer it when we head up to Munster.”

As one of the few Chiefs that have run-out at Thomond Park, the Lisburn-born back is relishing the opportunity to make an appearance once more and is well-aware of the task that lies ahead.

“It’s an incredible atmosphere [at Thomond Park] and it’s one of those places that you always remember playing at,” he added. “It’s a really tough place to go, but what a wonderful challenge in your career to get to be able to play there in a big European game.”

And it’s certainly no small task. As the closing round of the pool stages looms, Munster sit at the top of the tree with the Chiefs poised to climb. Their last match-up saw the two teams share the honours with a 10-10 draw back in October, but a bonus point win will prove vital if the Chiefs’ European campaign hopes are to stay alive.

Whitten continued: “You’ve just got to go and make the most of it. The one thing I’d say to the lads is that whatever happens, whatever the crowd do, you’ve got to get your head down and keep fighting.

“We don’t have to try and re-invent the wheel or anything, we just need to make sure we continue to do what we do best and go in refreshed and bouncing into it. It’s one last big game in Europe and we have a great chance, so we’ve got to want it and give it everything we’ve got.”