Bath Rugby extend Stringer’s stay

Posted on Mar 19, 2013 in Bath

Bath Rugby have extended the loan period of 98 times capped Irish scrum half Peter Stringer until the end of the season.

Stringer arrived from Munster as short-term cover for the injured Michael Claassens, and immediately brought his vast experience to bear. Having made an instant impact on the field with two tries against Exeter is his debut in the Blue, Black and White, he rapidly became a favourite with the Rec faithful.

Gary Gold, Bath Head Coach, said: “Strings has been superb since he arrived, both on the field and off it. He prepares himself exceptionally well, and knows the game as well as anybody. We are delighted to have retained a man of his experience; his influence will not only help the first team, but the aspiring professionals too.”

Mallinder under no illusions as Saints face tough game

Posted on Jan 4, 2013 in Northampton Saints

The Northampton Saints team has been named for Saturday’s Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 13 trip to Exeter Chiefs.

Just one point separates the Saints from the Chiefs in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table, and director of rugby Jim Mallinder is under no illusions as to how tough tomorrow’s game at Sandy Park will be.

“Exeter like to play a good 15-man game,” he said. “We know how tough it is there and will have to be accurate in everything we do.

“We were a point away from winning away against the 2nd placed team in the league. That was positive, but we know that not many teams win in Exeter and we’ll have to play well on Saturday.

“It’s a very important game, but so is every game in the Aviva Premiership. They’re in a similar position to us in the table and we’ll have to play well to win.

“We’ve had some tough games which haven’t gone our way. But we’re still confident and know that what counts is where you finish at the end of the season.”

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James Hanks and Ben White commit to the Chiefs

Posted on Dec 13, 2012 in Exeter Chiefs

Head coach Rob Baxter has spoken of his delight after another two of his current Exeter Chiefs squad this week committed their futures to the Devon club.

Forwards James Hanks and Ben White have followed the earlier lead of club-mates Chris Whitehead, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Chudley, Phil Dollman and Carl Rimmer in agreeing new deals that will keep them at Sandy Park for a further two years.

Hanks, who has to date made 176 appearances for the club, is one of the club’s longest-serving players having first made his debut for the Chiefs back in 2005 against the Cornish Pirates.

White, on the other hand, is still somewhat of a relative newcomer having signed during the summer of 2011 from Cardiff Blues. He has so far appeared 31 times for the Chiefs, although his current campaign has been hampered by a knee injury sustained in the home win over Harlequins.

Both men, however, are seen as key figures in Exeter’s future and Baxter has wasted little time in tying them down to new contracts.

"It’s fantastic for James to be staying around," said Baxter. "My first involvement with him was when he turned up at Exeter University when I was head a coach. We put him straight in the first team and he hasn’t looked back since as far as he career in Exeter goes.

"I’ve watched him play and develop and watched the part he’s had to play in Exeter moving forward over quite a long period. It’s fantastic that he’s still around but also fantastic that he’s a good player at this level.

"I think he’s still getting better. At 28 he’s probably got the best five or six years of his career ahead of him. My role is to make sure he keeps getting better within the Premiership and European Cup environment. What we want from James is for him to keep working hard to help us develop as a side. We know he’s a good man among the squad and that makes it a very easy deal for us to do.”

On White, Baxter added: "He’s a tough cookie and a different character, the other players will tell you that, but different characters are good within a club.

“He’s one of the guys who fits in very well with what we do. He’s his own man but his work ethic, the way he trains and the enthusiasm he puts on the pitch, have made him very popular at the club.

"As a coach you like working with players who want to improve, especially those who do it in difficult circumstances. Yes, he’s been a little frustrated by his amount of game time, yet he’s still one of our top trainers. That says a lot about his character and we’re confident there’s a lot of good rugby in him.

"Hopefully, as he keeps improving and his opportunities come along, he’s going to take one of them and you never know what could happen. If you take an opportunity and play well there’s every chance you will stay in the first team."

The Exeter Chiefs’ Ironmen

Posted on Oct 5, 2012 in Exeter Chiefs

Exeter will play their 50th Premiership game this weekend. James Scaysbrook, Tom Hayes and Tom Johnson have played in all 49 so far, thereby all racking up their 50th successive Premiership game if they appear against Harlequins on Saturday, writes Stuart Farmer.

In the history of the Premiership just a dozen players have played in 50 consecutive matches, the record being held by Gloucester’s Alex Brown with 87 in a row between 2000-04.

Michael Claassens has appeared in Bath’s last 75 Premiership encounters and counting, since April 2009.

James Scaysbrook has in fact STARTED all 49 games for Exeter, just three players have started 50 successive Premiership matches: only Tom Voyce (58), Jamie Noon (56) and Alex Brown (51) got there before him.

During his incredible run Scaysbrook has failed to be on the pitch when the final whistle has blown on just two occasions. He’s missed a grand total of just 51 minutes of Exeter’s total playing time in the Premiership, with half an hour of that spent during three spells in the sinbin!

Tom Hayes seeks a response from Exeter team mates

Posted on Sep 18, 2012 in Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs captain Tom Hayes insists he and his team-mates have already banished the disappointment of Sunday’s Aviva Premiership defeat to London Welsh to the back of their minds – and are now focusing their thoughts firmly on this weekend’s visit of Saracens to Sandy Park.

Having kicked off their league campaign with a stunning opening day victory over Sale Sharks, the Chiefs have since slipped to successive away-day defeats against Northampton Saints and league newcomers Welsh.

Devon’s finest looked on course for victory at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium last Sunday, but Seb Jewell’s conversion, following a try by Ed Jackson, condemned Rob Baxter’s team to a narrow 25-24 loss.

Next up is fourth-placed Saracens at Sandy Park – and the Irish lock says the Chiefs are determined to get their campaign back on track.

"It is a tough game, but all games in the Premiership are tough games," he said. "We enter a tough block of games now over the next five weeks starting with Saracens at home. We will just prepare as well as we can and be as positive as we can going into the game and control as much of it as we can.

"It will be good to get back to Sandy Park for us. There is always a good atmosphere down there and we are looking forward to next week and, hopefully, we can do enough to get the Sandy Park crowd to spur us on."

Like head coach Baxter, Hayes is refusing to be too downcast about Sunday’s setback, which ensured Welsh of their maiden victory in the top flight.

"It proves that, no matter how good a start you make, a game of rugby is not beyond you until 80 minutes are up," Hayes said. "We learnt that pretty quick when we came up to the Premiership and it hasn’t really changed.

"This is our third season in the Premiership and, no matter who you are up against, it takes an awful lot for a game to be put out of your reach and Sunday proved that.

"Rob always talks about not getting on emotional roller-coasters. You win games, you lose games. We lost by a point and if we had won by a point, nothing much would have changed from the other 79 minutes of the match because we would still have played just as well or just as badly.

"We won’t get too carried away by it, although it is very disappointing and there is no denying that. We will put it behind us and move on and try and be as positive as we can next weekend."

Although disappointed with Exeter’s display against the Exiles, Hayes was quick to praise the work put in by Lyn Jones’ side in only their third Premiership fixture.

"You have to give credit to London Welsh. They never dropped their heads," Hayes said. "They were 14-0 down fairly early, but they came straight back into the game, started putting pressure on and capitalised on any errors that we made. That is what you have to do in the Premiership.

"I think a lot of it is about controlling momentum and controlling the pressure, and they have won a lot of games in their back yard.

"They will take a lot of confidence out of the win. The first two games were not the best of starts for them, but they have got a few points on the board now and, sometimes, getting over that first hurdle can be the hardest thing. We’ll have to see if they can kick on from here."

Tickets for Sunday’s clash with Saracens are available through the club’s official website -www.exeterchiefs.co.uk – or via the Trading Post, which is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm.