'Last year's defeat was the worst - I came away thinking I don't ever want to feel like that again'
An hour after the final whistle, Jack Nowell was still slumped in his changing spot in the home dressing room at Twickenham.
So often a victor at the home of English rugby, the Cornishman was slowly coming to terms with the lowest ebb of his career to date – Exeter’s 2018 Gallagher Premiership final loss to Saracens.
Having partied the night away 12 months earlier having helped the Exeter to a maiden Premiership crown, Nowell and his team-mates were now wiping away the tears having surrendered their title in the end-of-season showpiece.
This Saturday, the 26-year-old back returns to HQ with his fellow Chiefs for a fourth successive final appearance where reigning European and Premiership champions Saracens once again lie in wait.
A year on from the heartbreak of losing to the Londoners 27-10, the 2017 British and Irish Lion wants redemption after Rob Baxter’s side booked their place in the final with a dominant 42-12 win over Northampton Saints last weekend.
? "We've shown how to play against them this year" ?
Motivated by disappointment, can @ExeterChiefs avenge last season's #GallagherPrem Final defeat to @Saracens on Saturday ?@nowellsy15 believes crucial lessons have been learned ?
? ? https://t.co/eiDfgX67l7 pic.twitter.com/wlzpPHSsvf
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) May 29, 2019
“Losing last year, feeling the hurt and looking around the changing room and seeing all the boys upset, crying, I sat there and realised the year ahead was going to be a different one,” said Nowell. “We haven’t worked so hard to put ourselves in this position to go and lose it again.
“If we compare it to that first year in the final when we lost, all of us were just happy to be there. We then won it the following year, which was amazing, and then we lost again last year and that hurt a lot. Not just in my Chiefs career but playing rugby, that defeat was the worst and I came away thinking I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”
It’s a feeling that many others within the Chiefs ranks have expressed, particularly in recent weeks, and now they are ready to right the wrongs.
Saracens, however, are the acid test in terms of club rugby. As they demonstrated only a few weeks ago against Leinster in the final of the Champions Cup, they have the game plan, the personnel and the fight to go all the way to glory.
“They are the best in England, the best in Europe, it’s where we want to be and where we are trying to drives ourselves to,” added Nowell. “We felt we let ourselves down in the Champions Cup this year, but they are a team that has done it and put themselves up there. It would be special to do a job on them.
“Anyone who knows rugby and who watches them, they know what Sarries are all about. They are good in attack, good in defence, but at the same time so are we. It’s going to be a big arm-wrestle come the weekend, but hopefully we can come out on top.”
Who would you rather try and tackle, @bvunipola or @mattkvesic? ?
What will happen if one tackles the other? ??
Get your tickets to see them go head to head in the #GallagherPrem Final ?? https://t.co/j3ct83euSf pic.twitter.com/9pPuWnpodN
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) May 29, 2019
In what has now become a regular match-up between the two current heavyweights of English rugby, Nowell admits there is little that either side don’t know about their rivals.
“I think we’ve played each other enough now to know what both teams will bring to the game,” he continued. “We’ll look at them like we do any other side, but the most important thing is that we focus mainly on ourselves and what we want to bring to the game. If we do that, play well, then we give ourselves a great chance.”
WATCH: Episode three of Don’t Mess With Jim which includes a Champions Cup final review on Saracens
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments