The blood pressure may have just about dropped after last Wednesday’s last-ditch victory over Bath University at Topsham, but EURFC know that they will need to improve significantly, if they are to keep their winning run going when they take on Leeds Beckett today at Topsham. (2pm)

A rampant start last week saw Exeter race into a 15-0 lead after just eight minutes, only to fall behind to the visitors in the 79th minute. The drama didn’t end there though, as Arthur Thomas scored in the corner with the clock deep in the red to secure the win.

Reflecting on that performance, centre Tom Hitchcock admitted that his side’s discipline let them down.

“The main lesson was our discipline, especially at the breakdown. Obviously, we had four yellow cards, so that’s something we really need to work on going into Leeds Beckett.”

Two of those yellow cards came in the final ten minutes of the match, meaning that Exeter finished the match with 13 players on the park. Despite being two men down, they still managed to pull out a win, but Hitchcock has challenged his side to put in an eighty-minute performance against Leeds Beckett this afternoon.

“We know Leeds have a pretty big pack, so we need to make sure that we front up and we’re physical. We need to put in that 80-minute performance,” Hitchcock explained. “Against Bath, we started strong, but our discipline let us down. If we work on that, hopefully we can get a win on Wednesday.”

Hitchcock scored EURFC’s second try last Wednesday and has impressed this season, having made 11 appearances and scoring three tries. After a period of time on the sidelines, Hitchcock admitted that it had bee ‘fantastic’ to get back out on the field.

“I had to rehab pretty hard on my knees but I’m loving being back out there and getting a run of games. We’ve been building a bit of momentum into the back end of the season, so hopefully I can keep pushing on.”

Despite sitting in ninth place in the table, Leeds Beckett have the ability to upset anyone on their day. Last Wednesday, Cardiff Met were made to work hard for their victory at Headingley Campus, as were EURFC earlier in the season, as they managed to grind out a hard-fought 22-16 victory.

Hitchcock acknowledged that his side knew the physical challenge that was coming their way but insisted the side had prepared as well as they could.

“We know they will be very physical. We’ve been working on our assist tackles and making sure we force those players back in defence.”

Last Wednesday’s Westcountry derby took its toll, with both Exeter and Bath suffering injuries. For EURFC flanker Luke Bralsford is ruled out, with Milo Hallam returning to the side having been a late withdrawal last week. In the backrow, Cameron Bullard starts in place of Bralsford, having made an impact off the bench last week; Sam Higginson coming into the side on the bench for a potential BUCS Super Rugby debut.

The other change to the starting XV sees Alec Lloyd-Seed start at fly half in place of Josh Barton, whilst Luke Bury is named on the bench in place of Scott Butterworth.

Durham’s victory over Loughborough last week saw them maintain their one-point advantage at the top of the table. Hitchcock admitted that his side had one eye on the league table but maintained that they could only control their own performances and results.

“It’s certainly in the back of our minds [the league standings], but we need to take every game as it comes. We can’t focus too much on Durham. We just have to focus on ourselves and put in a good performance every week. That’s all we can do.”

That focus on putting in a good performance every week has to start this afternoon, with Hitchcock also highlighting the importance of keeping up Exeter’s unbeaten home record, having not lost at home in BUCS Super Rugby since the semi-final defeat to today’s opponents in March 2019.

“Keeping that unbeaten record is certainly the target. We were pushed right to the wire by Bath, so we need to make sure we find that eighty-minute performance today and get that win.”

Supporters will be able to follow live match updates on the EURFC Twitter account throughout the afternoon.