Maunder chomping at the bit

By Mike Smith
2/10/19

Exeter Chiefs back Jack Maunder says he's 'chomping at the bit' to get back in the thick of the action, some four months on from his last appearance for the Devon club at Twickenham in the Gallagher Premiership Final.

With an extended pre-season due to the Rugby World Cup, the gifted scrum-half and his team-mates have been given even longer to prepare going into the 2019/20 season, which kicked-off a fortnight ago with an impressive 28-14 victory over Bath in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

It was an ideal start for Rob Baxter's young side, which included ten debutants on the day, but they were unable to build on that success last Friday, falling to their first defeat of the season away to Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.

Maunder, though, insists the mood within camp this week heading into Friday's Cup trip to Worcester has been a positive - and that the visitors will be looking for a big performance against the Warriors at Sixways (7:45pm).

"The mood has been pretty good, Rob (Baxter) and Ali (Hepher) have spoken about us not being on an emotional rollercoaster, instead just trying to keep ourselves level, and take the positives," said Maunder, "We've had work on's from the first week and we've had work on's from last week at Leicester. We showed a lot of good things - in both games - and one of the most important thing to come out was that the attitude was really strong within the group. They fought for everything, which is a great quality to have."

Baxter has made no secret of the fact that he will use the current four-week Cup block to get game time into his whole squad. That means many of those who featured in the first two games will now be rested, whilst others, Maunder included, will get their chance against Worcester and Bristol. 

"The youngsters have brought that bit of spark," added Maunder. "They’ve brought a lot of energy and there’s been a lot of excitement around the group. The lads want to give the boys who are making debuts something to remember. 

"It’s very special being a part of someone's debut, it's something that they never forget and you try and make that the best day as you possibly can. Those boys have all done very well. Jacques (Vermeulen) looked very impressive as did a lot of the other guys. As I said, a lot of good things came from last week and for those debutants."

Once again this year, the Premiership Rugby Cup has been used by the majority of Gallagher Premiership sides as a place to give game time to breakthrough players, including Maunder's younger brother Sam, who has started both games in the No.9 jersey.

Maunder has fond memories of the competition himself and knows exposure gleaned at this level, can help a young player to develop at a much faster rate. 

"If you look at the majority of our team, they’ve made their mark in the Premiership Rugby Cup," he continued. "The likes of Nowellsy, Hilly, Dickie, Sladey, they have all broken through and they've used this competition as a platform to showcase their talents, not just to the coaches and players, but also to the fans. I’m sure you can speak to most fans now and they will remember how those boys made their debuts, it’s a special competition and one that they really enjoy."

Now, Maunder will get his first chance of the season on Friday night against a Warriors outfit, who started with a bonus point victory over Leicester Tigers, but then lost at Bath 36-28 last Saturday.

"I’m expecting first and foremost a very tough game," warned Maunder, the son of Exeter's legendary scrum-half, Andy Maunder. "They fielded a very strong side last week against Bath, so they’ve had a run-out. For physicality and accuracy, they would have learnt a lot of lessons from playing in that game. Going up there, we know we need to match them physically, then see where the game takes us. 

"For a lot of boys playing this week, their last game was the final. There’s a lot of boys looking to get back out there and take the first steps to an even better season. The boys are chomping at the bit, the training has been really intense, probably because we’ve been waiting slightly longer than we usually would. If we can keep the intensity that we’ve shown across pre-season, then hopefully that’ll manifest itself into wins."