Mumm targets away-day response

Dean Mumm insists he and his Exeter Chiefs' team-mates have "nothing to lose" ahead of this Sunday's Aviva Premiership encounter with Saracens at Allianz Park (3.15pm).

The Australian international was as disappointed as anyone inside Sandy Park last Saturday as the Chiefs were again undone by rivals Bath Rugby in an enthralling Westcountry derby.

The narrow 27-23 loss was again another tough pill to swallow for Devon's finest and the 29-year-old forward believes it's vital the Chiefs learn from the experiences if they are to push forward.

"It was probably a missed opportunity for us and certainly a missed opportunity against Bath again," he said. "These things hurt - or they should - and right now it certainly does.

"Big games come down to big moments and, if we're being honest with ourselves, we probably missed a few too many and that was telling in the end. That said, as a whole we were pretty good at applying pressure to Bath and we certainly took them away from some of the elements of their game that they base themselves on."

Now Mumm hopes the emotions and lessons learned in the wake of this latest defeat will act as a key driver ahead of this weekend's tussle against another of the Premiership's leading lights.

"I think people can see we are competing with the top sides," said the experienced lock. "The last five games against top sides, I think we have lost all of them by less than seven points - and in some cases a couple of them by just one like last weekend.

"It doesn't make it any easier for us because in some ways it would almost be easier to swallow if ou weren't up to the standards to beat these sides. The thing is, we know we are and there are opportunities for us to knock over these sides, so it can be hard to swallow at times."

Mumm added: "For sure we will look to target Saracens this week. We'll have had an extra day of recovery, it will be a firm pitch, which we always enjoy, and we'll be up against a team that is running hot. In some ways there's not a lot for us to lose, we're not going to get relegated as a side, but there is still lots of work to do to get to the point end of the competition.

"As I said, there is nothing to lose, but there is a matter of pride because you want to keep extending yourself, both individually and as a team, so we will be there and we will be there right in the hunt next week."