Exeter Chiefs are targeting a Heineken Champions Cup and Premiership double, says wing Alex Cuthbert.
Chiefs have an 11-point lead at the top of the Premiership, winning three times since the restart, including victories at title rivals Sale and Bristol.
They host Northampton in the Champions Cup quarter-finals next month.
“Without being arrogant it’s what we’ve talked about and it’s what we’ve had on our minds for a long period of time,” said Cuthbert.
Exeter have reached the past four Premiership finals, beating Wasps in 2017 and losing to Saracens on the other three occasions.
But this season marks just the second time that the club has reached the knockout stages of Europe’s top club competition, with Exeter recording a club-record five wins from six pool matches.
“Last year didn’t go to plan in terms of the way we were in Europe and losing the (Premiership) final to Saracens, but we’re using all that to drive us forward,” Cuthbert told BBC Sport.
When asked about going for a domestic and European double, the 30-year-old added: “At the moment we’re taking it game by game, but in the back of our minds that’s our end goal.”
New training focus
Cuthbert’s second season at Exeter has been troubled by injury.
The former Wales and British & Irish Lions winger had shoulder surgery after last season’s Premiership final, but just four games into his return he suffered a serious hamstring injury that needed an operation – an injury he describes as “one of the hardest” he has ever had to come back from.
Frustratingly for Cuthbert, he was set to return to Exeter’s squad just after the Premiership season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I wasn’t far off being 100% fit and then lockdown happened, so I guess it just gave me another couple of months to make sure my injury was 100% because I wanted to get back as quick as possible,” Cuthbert said.
“I’ll hopefully end up now having a couple of games where I might not have played, but it would have been ideal to have got the season done when it was supposed to be done.”
It has led to Cuthbert changing the way he trains, with a bigger focus on the gym and less time on the training field – something he has had to get used to.
“As a winger and the way I play, I end up racking up quite a lot of mileage during the week, so we’ve cut that down a little bit and I’ve worked a lot more on gym-based exercises.
“It seems to be working wonders really, I’ve found a programme which is suiting me and I’m still able to do the programme that the Chiefs want me to do.”
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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