White backs Chiefs to hit back in Europe
By Mark Stevens
12/11/19
Nic White says he’s backing himself and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates to ‘put things right’ when they open their latest Heineken Champions Cup campaign this Saturday away to La Rochelle.
Having not long jetted in from the Far East, where he was part of Australia’s Rugby World Cup squad in Japan, it wasn’t quite the happy homecoming to Sandy Park for the gifted Wallaby last Sunday.
Handed his first start of the new Gallagher Premiership season against Bristol Bears, the 29-year-old wasted little time in getting himself back into the Chiefs groove, scoring one of the two Exeter tries in a dominant first half display.
Up 17-0 at the turn, all appeared to be looking rosy for Rob Baxter’s side in this Round 4 encounter. However, what followed was the Bears regrouped impressively – and they were able to claw their way back into the contest, before sinking their hosts with a decisive, match-winning score with the last play of the game.
Dan Thomas’ last-gasp score sealed a remarkable fightback from the Bears, whose 20-17 success ensured they head into the European break top of the tree in English rugby’s top flight.
Post-game, a disappointed White summed up the mood in the home camp, insisting it was a tough pill to swallow given their exertions during the first 40 minutes of the match.
“It definitely hurts,” said White. “We played well in that first half and we were playing the way we wanted. Second half, credit to Bristol, they just kept coming and coming and they didn’t allow us to get the same momentum we had in the first half.”
In what was a dominant opening period for the Devonians, Sam Simmonds stole over for an early score, before White followed suit not long after. Joe Simmonds converted both tries, before slotting a routine penalty to put the Chiefs seemingly in control of proceedings.
“We felt good at half-time,” added White. “As I said, we were playing like we wanted and we really put it to them. The second half, though, the tide seemed to turn and it felt like Bristol were playing like we had in the first half. The change is something we definitely have to look at because it wasn’t good enough.
“We coughed up too much ball and we got punished for it. It’s no secret we want to play, we want to keep hold of the ball, but if you concede as many turnovers as we did today, it’s going to hurt you in the end.”
Sunday’s loss was only Exeter’s first in almost 12 months at Sandy Park and White admitted the feeling of not producing in front of what was a bumper home crowd left him with an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
“You never like losing, especially when it’s at home,” he continued. “We love playing here and putting on a show for the supporters. Today wasn’t good enough and there is lots for us to look at and, hopefully, improve upon.
“It’s a short week now going into Europe, but it’s also a good chance for us to put things right and get ourselves back on track. La Rochelle, we know, are going to be tough opponents. They’ll be big and they have that real X-Factor within their back line. That said, I’m backing us to turn it around and go over there and put in a really big performance.”