'We want to win every competition' says O'Flaherty
By Mike Smith
25/11/19
After what was an exceptional performance away at La Rochelle in Round One of the Heineken Champions Cup, some may have been looking at Saturday's fixture as a potential banana skin with Glasgow Warriors the visitors to Sandy Park.
Like the Chiefs, the Scottish outfit had kicked off their latest European campaign with victory at home to Sale Sharks at Scotstoun.
However, it proved to be another commanding Exeter Chiefs performance as they recorded maximum reward for a second successive week, courtesy of tries from Jonny Hill, Sam Simmonds, Henry Slade and winger Tom O'Flaherty in a 34-18 success.
Fresh from his man-of-the-match display against La Rochelle the week previous, winger O'Flaherty turned in another polished performance, claiming his second try in as many weeks.
"Both individually and collectively I'm happy," he said. "Obviously, there are still a few things to work on, both me personally and as a team, but we've got to keep moving forward, and hopefully we can take those learns into the coming games.
Exeter's two wins have put Rob Baxter's side top of Pool Two, five points clear of next-best Sale Sharks, who they face in next month's double-header.
"Two five-point wins to start off with is obviously great, so we're going to take this weekend to enjoy it," added O'Flaherty. "Come Monday, though, we're straight back into the Premiership, so it's not much of a break. We want to go after both, obviously. You want to win every competition that you're in, but in order to do that we need to be relentless and there's not a lot of rest for any of us. We've had two good wins in the Champions Cup, but our Premiership form has been wavering a bit, so we've got to go into next week looking to put that right.
Saturday sees the Chiefs in action at Sandy Park once more, this time tackling visiting Wasps, who themselves be aiming to kick start their season after a slow start. Before Bristol Bears won at Sandy Park earlier this month, Dai Young's side were the last team to emerge victorious from Sandy Park, winning their last Premiership meeting 26-19 back in April.
"The Premiership is pretty tight at the moment, there are no easy games in the competition," warned O'Flaherty. "For us, though, it's a chance to build on the last couple of weeks and we're looking forward to getting stuck into another game at the weekend."
The Chiefs are likely to be without skipper Jack Yeandle for the match, he was forced off just before the break against Glasgow with a damaged forearm. Director of Rugby Baxter is still assessing the injury, but has plenty of options should his talisman not be available. Waiting in the wings are international duo Luke Cowan-Dickie and Elvis Taione.
