'There is still lots to achieve,' says Dennis as he sorts out his Premiership future
Dave Dennis’ successful stint in England will continue after the 2014 Super Rugby-winning captain agreed a two-year contract extension with Premiership leaders Exeter.
The Australian, who inspired the Waratahs to glory five years ago in a season where he agonisingly missed the final due to a knee reconstruction, has played a significant role in helping the Chiefs become an English powerhouse.
He capped his first season in Devon by helping the club to become Premiership champions for the first time, defeating Wasps after extra-time at Twickenham. He was on the winners’ podium again last season, featuring in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final win over Bath at Kingsholm.
Now, the 33-year-old says he is targeting yet more success with the Chiefs, who have their sights set on reaching a fourth successive Premiership decider in a few months.
“Whenever you play, you want to be part of a successful team,” said Dennis. “I’ve been lucky to have had some success already with the club, but there is still lots we want to achieve over these next few years.
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“Winning the title that first season was obviously pretty special, but what I’ve appreciated since is the way we have just continued to keep chasing things.
“This is my third season at the club, but our focus and our goals have not changed at all. All the time we’re striving hard as a group to get better and do well in every competition we enter.”
Although injuries hampered much of Dennis’ second season with the Chiefs, the 18-cap Wallaby returned to full fitness this season and has underlined his worth to Rob Baxter’s plans with some hard-hitting displays.
?- @ExeterChiefs & @qantaswallabies star @davedennis671, plus Director of Rugby Rob Baxter, talk about new two-year deal for @premrugby star pic.twitter.com/EJFzfMybkQ
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) March 15, 2019
Dennis is glad that form has helped secure his immediate future. “It’s always nice to get your future sorted out. Playing professional rugby is a great lifestyle and it’s an opportunity to see a bit of the world, but there is always that little bit of uncertainty about what happens next when contracts are up for renewal.
“I know I’m not getting any younger, but at the end of the day it’s nice to put everything to bed and know that I’ll be here for a couple more seasons.”
Not that Dennis believes his extended deal will mean an easy ride in either the Premiership or future Champions Cup tournaments.
“I have a huge amount of respect for both competitions,” he said. “The Champions Cup is globally accepted as being the ultimate club competition in the world. At the same time, the Premiership gets harder and harder each year.
“Even my first year here, I was surprised just how tough it was. The teams are getting better, the physicality is always there, the skills levels are very high, and you can see that players from all four corners want to come here and play, so that’s a fair reflection of how respected the competition is.
“Chiefs is a fantastic club, a great set-up to be part of. These first three years have just flown by, but all of us want to keep kicking on achieve things.
“As a player, that’s the culture you want to be in and it’s where I play my best rugby. That in the end was what swayed me in my decision to stay here.”
Dennis is the latest in a number of the current Chiefs squad to re-commit to a club that will be adding some new faces for next season. Scotland and Lions full-back Stuart Hogg is the first confirmed arrival, with others expected to be confirmed soon.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments