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'We could be the most disappointed team in England': Steenson's warning for Exeter

(Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Gareth Steenson insists Exeter’s euphoria will turn to despair if they fail to seize the opportunity presented by the biggest fortnight in the club’s history.

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The Chiefs face Champions Cup and Gallagher Premiership finals on successive weekends as they seek to join Leicester, Wasps and Saracens in the ranks of English double winners.

First up is Saturday’s European showdown with French heavyweights Racing 92 followed by a trip to Twickenham to face Wasps in a repeat of the 2017 final in which Steenson led Exeter to their only league crown.

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“Being in back-to-back finals is pretty special. I didn’t think I would see those days. I thought I would be watching from afar,” Steenson said after Bath had been flattened 35-6 at Sandy Park.

“It’s a really exciting couple of weeks coming up now for the club. We’ve got ourselves into the position we wanted to be in at the start of the season.

“We could be sitting here is two weeks time with nothing. We could be the most disappointed team in England.

“So the message will be to get ourselves recovered after this game and build the emotional energy up again.

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“Racing 92 is probably the biggest game the club has ever faced and the emotional levels should be there, so it will be about how we show up.

“To give ourselves a shot of achieving everything we set out to do is incredible but we know there is a heck of a lot of hard work to be done.”

Steenson joined Exeter in 2008 and pulled the strings a decade ago when Bristol were defeated to secure passage into the top flight for the first time.

In the wake of Saracens’ demise caused by repeated salary cap infringements, the Chiefs are now the Premiership’s dominant force and that mastery could soon extend to Europe.

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Joe Simmonds has since replaced Steenson at fly-half, but the 36-year-old Northern Irishman is happy to play second fiddle to a player he believes is destined for England honours.

“Joe has been driving our side and has been all season. He has been leading the boys,” Steenson said.

“He defends well, he attacks the gainline really well and his goal kicking is very assured.

“He is a real catalyst for what we are doing now and it is a real credit to him personally in how he is driving guys and international guys around the field.”

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AM 38 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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