Shoemark seeks improvements

Jason Shoemark has warned Exeter Chiefs can ill afford to make the same mistakes as they made at Bath on Sunday when Aviva Premiership leaders Saracens arrive in Devon this weekend (3pm).

The Chiefs saw their recent winning streak come to an abrupt halt as Westcountry rivals Bath secured a 37-15 victory in the club's second LV= Cup fixture of the season.

It was a disappointing outcome for the visitors, who were always up against it after leaking two converted tries inside the opening four minutes at the Recreation Ground.

Although the Chiefs were much improved as the game went on - claiming tries through James Phillips and Greg Bateman - the earlier damage had proved too much and the Kiwi centre says any kind of repeat performance this Saturday will result in trouble.

"Saracens are going to bring a lot of intensity with their defence, and our attack has got to be right on the money," said Shoemark. "Some of the decisions we made on the pitch were wrong, and if we do that against Saracens, we will be put under the pump again.

"I'm sure the training week will be pretty positive. We have got a bunch of boys who haven't played for a couple of weeks, the enthusiasm will be massive, and it will be a huge game."

Certainly the importance of the fixture has been drummed home to the Exeter squad this week by head coach Rob Baxter, who will be keen to ensure his side remain amongst the division's top four sides.

Reflecting on the latest loss at Bath, Shoemark - who was skipper for the day - added: "We came up here all keen for the win, so to start like we did was very disappointing. We were always chasing the game from that point.

"Every year we seem to give Bath a head start. The guys are gutted, but we have got to move on, learn from our mistakes, and we have got two massive Premiership games coming up, so we have got to keep pushing forward."

And it was not just the bad opening that cost Exeter dear, as they made some uncharacteristic errors during other parts of the game.

"There were a combination of things that did for us today," said Shoemark. "I don't think we got off the bus in that first five minutes and they scored 14 points, and that hurts, but then again, we can come back from that," continued Shoemark. "There were also some little errors, like when we probably should have kicked, we didn't, and when we should have passed, we kicked. Those are little mistakes that we haven't been making for the past month or so, but they crept into our game today."

Despite Sunday's disappointing outcome, Baxter will no doubt have some tough selection decisions to make in certain positions, with several players having come through the past two weeks after being out injured with some credability.

"The depth in our squad is massive, and the back line we rolled out today is probably as good as any back line we can put out, though the guys sat back at home are class as well," said Shoemark. "Everyone is fighting for positions, and I am pretty sure Rob will have a tough decision when he picks the team for Saturday."