Yeandle excited for European kick-off

By Mark Stevens
9/12/21

Exeter Chiefs hooker Jack Yeandle has spoken of his “excitement” ahead of this season’s Heineken Champions Cup, a competition he believes has a unique attraction.

The 31-year-old has made 37 appearances for Exeter in the competition, including five as the Gallagher Premiership side lifted the trophy in 2020, so is fully qualified to talk about a tournament which sees the continent’s elite sides go head-to-head.

“It’s probably the excitement of having the lure of big teams coming from around the rest of Europe to Sandy Park,” he said. “We get to go on away trips. It’s just the excitement of the whole competition.

“I think regardless of who you’re playing, it’s always a big occasion because the [Heineken] Champions Cup isn’t something that’s just gifted to you.

“You have to earn the right to be in it and you’ve got to follow that through by stepping up and showing the teams the respect they deserve by putting in a big performance.”

A home clash with last season’s EPCR Challenge Cup winners, Montpellier Hérault Rugby, awaits Exeter in their opening Pool A fixture – opponents Yeandle believes will offer stubborn resistance.

“It’s easy to say, but your traditional French teams [have a] massive set of forwards,” he observed. “They will want to get into an arm wrestle and rough you up a bit in the forwards and with dangerous backs as well.

“We just want to get into pushing our rugby – getting into a bit of a high-tempo running game where we can get the ball moving.

“It’s just down to us to make sure that we get that, though, so we’ve got to make sure that our standards are bang on and we’re not getting into that case where there are unforced errors.”