NOWELL READY TO BE A CHAMPION

JACK NOWELL and his upwardly mobile Exeter team-mates have spent the past five years playing with broad grins on their faces but the England winger says it’s time for the Chiefs to get serious. Rob Baxter’s men will play in their first Premiership semi-final today, when they take on Wasps at a soldout Sandy Park, five seasons after gaining promotion. Now firmly established as one of England’s top clubs after a succession of top-six finishes and a narrow defeat in this year’s European Champions Cup quarterfinal to today’s opponents, Nowell insists the logical next step is to win the league. He said: ‘We’ve been in the Premiership so long now, going along enjoying the moment and being happy to be in it. That hasn’t changed as a squad but we’ve come to a stage now in our careers and in the evolution of the team where enjoying games only goes so far. Now we want to start winning silverware and big games. We’re two away from being champions and that’s the attitude we need. ‘Exeter feels like a special place to be right now. Every year has been a stepping stone since we broke into the Premiership. Now we’re in the last four, who knows what could happen? We’re so close now, it would be a shame to let it slip.’ Exeter and Wasps will run out in front of another 12,600 capacity crowd at Sandy Park today after thousands of Chiefs fans queued for hours to secure tickets when they went on sale last month. Nowell (right) was on the physio’s table — being treated for a hamstring strain which almost saw him miss the demolition of Harlequins which secured a home semi-final — as several Chiefs players served tea and coffee to their fans desperate for a chance to watch history being made. ‘It was amazing how many people turned up,’ said Nowell. ‘Most of them were there before we started training at 7am. It was a nice touch for the boys to go and serve the coffees. ‘We’d pretty much sold out by the afternoon but in the morning the queue was pretty much two car parks long. ‘It’s testament to what it means to the fans. A lot of them have supported the club long before any of us players turned up.’ Nowell’s contribution against Quins — a hat-trick of tries — was the latest in a succession of eyecatching performances from the versatile 23-year-old this season. A Grand Slam winner and regular for England, the Cornish-born flyer is thriving under the watchful eye of Chiefs boss Baxter and England head coach Eddie Jones after playing a bit-part role in the World Cup under Stuart Lancaster. Nowell added: ‘Eddie and Rob are very similar. ‘As long as you always give 100 per cent to the team when you’re training and playing that’s all that matters. ‘It’s nice to be able to chill out a bit when you’re not on the field.’