No limits for Lees
By Mark Stevens
24/9/17
Mitch Lees insists he and his Exeter team-mates are happy to push themselves to the limit, if it means bringing success to the Chiefs this season.
Rob Baxter’s side showed during May’s Aviva Premiership final against Wasps that despite a gruelling season, they were willing to leave nothing left in the tank as they triumphed 23-20 after extra time at Twickenham.
This afternoon, the Chiefs and Wasps lock horns once more, this time at Sandy Park (3pm), in what is the latest showdown between the two clubs, who have got to know one another better than most in recent season.
Aussie lock Lees is well aware of the threat posed across the park by the Midlanders, who will arrive in the Westcountry not only seeking revenge for the disappointment of defeat in May, but also looking to bounce back at the first hurdle after they surrendered their 20-game unbeaten home run to Harlequins a week ago.
“I’m sure they will be smarting after the final, but I think they’ll also want to show where they have developed as well,” said Lees. “They’ll want to show the rest of the competition this, plus knocking over the Chiefs at home is a big thing for clubs. As a team we know everyone will be coming after us as champions, but at the same time it’s a good way to show where we are at, and that we are still improving, still playing well, and that we want to be playing at the top of our game.”
Back-to-back bonus point wins over London Irish and Worcester Warriors have certainly got the Chiefs firing again after the disappointment of their opening day loss at Gloucester, but Lees believes today’s encounter will be their toughest test of the season so far.
“Wasps are a good side with a very good attacking way, so defensively have to be on song,” warned Lees. “At the same time, we’re also a very good side and we’ve shown that not only this season, but also over the last few years as well. Yes, we were disappointed to lose up at Gloucester in the first round, but we knew there were ways to improve. Over the last two weeks we feel we’ve done that, but there is still a lot more to come from us.”
In an ominous warning from the 28-year-old, Lees says the Chiefs have developed the culture within that as a group they will be willing to go to ‘dark places’ in their bid to bring success back to Sandy Park.
“It’s kind of ingrained into us now,” said the Sydney-born forward. “The work we do with the conditioners, the way we train, the way we play, we’re happy to put ourselves into those dark places and really compete at that high tempo. I’m sure the S&C guys will show you the paper work of how hard we are performing, but it does pay off because when it does come to those big moments at the end of a game, we still have enough in the tank.”
Certainly, May’s final was evident of that very point as the Chiefs rallied hard not only in the final quarter of normal time, but also the additional 20 minutes of extra time, to lift their first-ever Premiership crown.
“We back what we do out on the field, but I’m sure Wasps feel the same,” added Lees. “I guess with the final, though, the belief within us was there and thankfully we came away with the win. When you look back at the game, we dominated ball late on and we knew if we kept attacking as we did, we would get our rewards in the end, which we did.
“Obviously the big challenge now is to keep replicating that but, as I said, we’ve started the season well and it’s given us a good base to work from. We’re scoring tries, which is what we want to do. We’re entertaining the crowd and we’ve picked up two bonus point wins on the trot, so it show we are moving in the right direction. This weekend, however, will be a different test altogether, just because Wasps are a good side and they will be coming down here all guns blazing.”