Luke looking to shine
Having been given his first-ever taste of Heineken Cup action last weekend, Luke Cowan-Dickie is hoping for more European exposure on Saturday when the Exeter Chiefs tackle Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park (3.40pm).
The young Cornishman featured for just over an hour during the narrow 15-10 defeat against visiting Glasgow Warriors and impressed many with his on-field display.
Back on the pitch following a season which has been hampered by a knee injury sustained in the pre-season friendly at Scarlets back in August, the talented 20-year-old says he is clearly keen to make up for lost time.
Returning to the Chiefs fold following a couple of decent run-outs for Championship side Plymouth Albion - where he is currently on dual-registered forms - Cowan-Dickie wants to use his latest call-up to remind head coach Rob Baxter of what he has to offer.
Cowan-Dickie said: “It was good to get my first start, especially in a Heineken Cup game. I’ve played a couple of games for Plymouth so it was my third game of the season.
“There were a lot of positives. I hit my line-outs – I missed a couple in the first half but I think that’s down to nerves. I didn’t try to out-do myself in my first game, I tried to stick to my role and what they’ve asked of me and hopefully if I get selected again this weekend I can do the same again.”
Cowan-Dickie was one of ten changes for last weekend’s match as Baxter gave a host of fringe players a chance to shine. The Chiefs leader is expected to again rotate his options not only for Saturday's final Pool Two fixture, but also the upcoming LV= Cup clashes with Ospreys and Worcester Warriors, as he looks to ready his troops of a testing block of battles in the Aviva Premiership next month.
“Rob has put new guys in for them to play well and stand out,” said Cowan-Dickie. “In the next lot of (Premiership) games we’re going to look to pick the best lot of players who are performing at the moment.”
And whilst Cowan-Dickie's immediate aim is to look to shine on the club front, the Penzance-born forward no doubt has aspirations to follow in the footsteps of club-mates such as Tom Johnson, Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Dave Ewers, all of whom have impressed sufficiently enough this season to be called up into senior England squads.
“It’s always good that the boys you’ve played with in the Under-20s and Under-18s get the call,” he said. “It was awesome. Nowellsy, Sladey, Tom Johnson, Dave Ewers – there’s quite a few of the boys here now in the team. It’s good for them to get the call.
“They have proved themselves in the first team and Stuart Lancaster and the coaches have been looking at them and they’ve all made it into the Saxons, with Jack and TJ in the Six Nations squad.”
Cowan-Dickie himself was one of the stand-out figures during England's success at last summer's Under-20s Junior World Championships and he hopes additional game time not only with the Chiefs, but also at Plymouth Albion will hopefully help accelerate his own rise within the game.
“It’s always good being on loan because you can get your time,” he said. “If I wasn’t on loan it would be hard for them (Exeter’s coaches) to pick me here because they haven’t see me play in so long. It’s always good to be on loan to a Championship side. I’ve been enjoying it down at Plymouth, trying my hardest, and that’s obviously paid off as I got a start here.”
Pictures: Exeter Rugby Club/Pinnacle Photo Agency
