Phillips to repay the faith shown in him by the Exeter Chiefs coaching staff
By Mark Stevens
James Phillips says he is ready to repay the faith shown in him by the Exeter Chiefs coaching staff as he looks to play a key role for the Aviva Premiership club this season. Having seen his campaign last season blighted by a knee injury sustained in the home game with Saracens, the imposing forward is now back to full fitness and keen to make up for lost time.
The Bristol-born star featured for 40 minutes in Exeter’s 23-15 friendly win at Scarlets last weekend and he will get another run out against his hometown club in this weekend’s latest pre-season game at Sandy Park (3pm).
With the long-serving Richard Baxter having retired at the end of last season, the battle for the No.8 jersey is set to be intense this term and Phillips is well aware the coaches will be watching closely as the countdown to the seasonal opener at Northampton Saints draws ever nearer.
“I was really pleased to get 40 minutes under my belt on Saturday [against Scarlets],” said Phillips.
“Like with any pre-season, you can do plenty of running and hard work in the gym, but it’s minutes out on the pitch that are the most important thing at this stage.
“After the disappointment of last season with the injury, I just want to go out there and show what I can do again. At the same time I also want to repay the faith shown in me by the club, the staff and all my team-mates because every time I’ve had an injury they’ve really stuck by me and got me through what have been some tough times.”
Now into his fourth season at the Devon club, Phillips wants to use the club’s pre-season fixtures as the perfect building block for what he hopes will be a successful campaign all round.
“It’s a big year for me and I just want to get out there and string a few games together,” he said.
“The last few years have been frustrating for me because it’s never nice when you get injured, but at the same time it’s part and parcel of the game and now I want to get out there and show what I can do again.”
Certainly Phillips has all the credentials within his game to succeed and he hopes to demonstrate them all during this Saturday’s game against the Championship side. “They’ll be a good test for us, but it’s more about how we do and how we want to play,” said Phillips, who amassed over 80 competitive games for Bristol.
“Last week was a good start for us, it helped blow away a few of the cobwebs, but now we want to crank it up another notch.
“The conditions weren’t great up at the Scarlets, but I thought we adapted quite well considering. Obviously there are a few things we’ve had to work on this week, but hopefully that’s been sorted and we can move onto the next step.”
Saturday’s meeting will be the first time the two clubs have faced each other since the Chiefs claimed promotion into the top flight back in 2010.
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Picture: Exeter Rugby Club/Pinnacle Photo Agency
