Sweeney looking for home advantage

Fly-half Ceri Sweeney insists it’s imperative the Exeter Chiefs make the most of home advantage this weekend as they looked to kick on in this season’s European Challenge Cup.

At the halfway stage of Pool Two qualification, Rob Baxter’s side sit top of the pile having netted 11 points from their opening three games.

Five of those points came a week ago as the Chiefs secured maximum reward from a 36-10 victory away to French hosts La Rochelle at the Stade Marcel Deflandre.

Tries from Tom James, Brett Sturgess, Byron McGuigan and Fetu’u Vainikolo, coupled with a 16-point haul from skipper Gareth Steenson, ensured the Chiefs of only their second-ever European victory in France.

But with Connacht, who themselves claimed a five-point success from their home win against Bayonne last Saturday, breathing down the necks of the Aviva Premiership club, Sweeney knows he and his team-mates can ill afford to slip-up this weekend.

“We try and win every game we play - and we feel confident enough in our own ability to win every game,” said the Welsh international. “Obviously we hang our hat on saying we want to win all our home games for definite, then we’ll try and go away and pinch a win in Connacht later on.

“Right now we have put ourselves top of the pool and we are putting pressure on the other teams to try and force wins and catch us.”

Although it was a comfortable enough victory for the Chiefs against La Rochelle last time out, the physicality the French team brought to the game, as well as their unpredictable nature means no one at Sandy Park this weekend will be taking them lightly.

“Like with any French team, we expected it to be physical,” added the experienced Exeter playmaker. “A big focus we mentioned before the game last week was their fitness. We didn’t expect them to be as fit as we were, so it was important we kept knocking on the door, hammering away and hopefully they would break.

“I think you saw with the last 10, 15 minutes, that is when we pulled away with our fitness, but it was also the work we did early on that paid rewards at the end.”

Having seen James and Sturgess cross for tries in the first half, it was not until the final ten minutes that Baxter’s side were able to cross the whitewash again as full-back McGuigan slid over in the left-hand corner.

Still with five minutes of time to play, Sweeney said the Chiefs then ‘smelt blood’ as they chased down the all-important fourth try and the crucial bonus point.

“We smelt a bit of blood,” admitted Sweeney, who has won this very competition during his playing days with the Cardiff Blues in 2010. “You could see their heads were down, so we really felt at that time sod the game we were causing them a lot of trouble, so it was just a case of getting back, re-focusing, and getting into things as quickly as we could to to try and get that fourth try.”

Sweeney has warned, however, that the Chiefs must again adopt a similar clinical and professional approach to down their French rivals.

“Just because we got five points away from home last week doesn’t mean we can afford to take them lightly in any way,” said the Welshman. “The big question this week has been on the mentality side of the game and getting everything right. We have to make sure we step up to the mark and knock it on another notch.

“The way we are going at the moment, we are finding ways to win against certain teams. We are carrying out the game plan that we are putting together at the beginning of the week and when things go right and they start to click, that’s when you gain confidence and move forward. We just have to keep moving it forward week by week.”