Former Exeter Chiefs Fly-Half Gareth Steenson says there is a “great history between the teams” and is looking forward to his former side facing Munster in the EPCR Challenge Cup this weekend. Steenson will be part of the Premier Sports Punditry team this weekend.
Munster Model a Huge Part
Steenson believes that the Munster model played a huge part in Exeter’s successes in the 2010s. Munster have been one of the most dominant teams in Ireland over the past 20 years, and Steenson explained how that model helped Exeter.
Steenson said “It’s a game that I know Exeter will be super excited about. Munster are a team that for years, we used to talk about and tried to mirror a little bit. The clubs have similar ideas, quite far away from a big city, similarly tribal with a supporter base that gets behind the team and I know that there is some great history between the two teams.
Praise for Exeter Fly-Half
Steenson also heaped praise on a former protege, current Fly-Half Harvey Skinner. Skinner is currently having the best season of his career, and Steenson feels his surge in form has played a huge part in Exeter’s rise to fourth in the Gallagher PREM table, after finishing in ninth last season.
He said “There seems to be a new lease of life with the players they have got. They have got a really good brand of rugby, and Harvey Skinner has really found his feet a little bit. Saying that, he’s played over a hundred games, but he’s got to the point where he is probably feeling good about being the number one guy, which is driving the rest.”
Steenson himself was a prolific points scorer for Exeter during his time, scoring 2,531 points in 290 appearances, becoming Exeter’s all-time leading points scorer. He continued with his praise for Skinner, saying “Harvey’s strengths are he is a big physical guy and he can be at the line, he’s got a lovely passing game and that plays to what the strength is. The guys he has outside him, Henry Slade takes a bit of pressure from a kicking point of view, stephen Varney has a great kicking game as well. It allows Harvey to marshal the troops and be the leader he can be.”
Exeter Chiefs v Munster is available on Premier Sports 1 from 12 midday on Saturday 4th April. See our preview here.
