Opportunity knocks for Keast

By Alfie Martin
24/2/19

Billy Keast says a ‘strong mentality’ and ‘desire to win’ proved key in helping Exeter Chiefs return to winning ways with a convincing bonus-point win over Newcastle Falcons in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday.

Rob Baxter’s side dominated from start to finish, running in five converted tries through Santiago Cordero, Jack Yeandle, Olly Woodburn, Nic White and Greg Holmes, to move themselves back to the summit of the division.

It was the perfect response from the Devonians, who the week previous had slipped to a third league defeat away to Gloucester.

Naturally, Keast was delighted with the outcome, insisting it was an ‘honour’ to be part of the Chiefs match-day make-up.

“It’s great to be involved in this Premiership squad, I’m loving every second of it,” explained the Cornish-born prop. “It’s an honour because every Premiership game is so important at the moment, even those against teams that are at the bottom end of the table.

“Newcastle always pose a threat and they were tough opponents today. They were in the top four last year and had a place in the semi-final, so of course we knew they were going to be dangerous and we had to prepare for that.”

With the Chiefs front-row options somewhat depleted due to a number of international call-ups, the 22-year-old prop – together with fellow young gun Marcus Street – are making the most of their exposure to first-team life.

“After the loss up at Kingsholm, we headed into this game with a strong mentality and a real desire to win,” added Keast. “Every carry, every chase, every leg drive, the boys put in a great effort and in the end we came away with the win.

“We definitely used [the Gloucester game] coming into this game. Coming off the back of a loss just helped us to reset and put it to the back of our minds so that we could focus on the challenge ahead of us.”

Even with the likes of Ben Moon, Harry Williams and Tomas Francis all away, the Exeter coaches are never afraid to give their youth a shot on the big stage, highlighting the depth available to their Premiership selection.

But, according to Keast, healthy competition for shirts has been a driving force for his selection in the match-day 23.

“The coaches definitely have a lot of choice when picking the team. Obviously when the boys come back from international duty there’s going to be even more depth in our squad. The competition helps drive us forward and keep us keen to improve, and that showed today. From 1 to 23, we all put in a great shift and it showed at the end.”

* Saturday's match sponsors were Gamma & Watson Fuels *