Dennis the menace top of Tank’s title tilt wishlist
EXETER try-machine Thomas Waldrom believes the imminent arrival of Wallaby back-row star Dave Dennis can underpin the club’s drive for a first Premiership title.
Chiefs gave Saracens a serious run for their money before falling short at Twickenham in May, but the West Country’s finest are hell bent on going a step further and No.8 ‘Tank ’Waldrom reckons the acquisition of Waratahs dynamo Dennis can be the difference.
He told The Rugby Paper: “Dave Dennis is going to add to our squad hugely. He can probably cover all back five positions in the forward pack and you want that competition within the squad because it improves your level of training during the week.
“That’s what (head coach) Rob Baxter’s doing; he’s making sure standards are kept high right throughout the squad if we want to go back to Twickenham again.
“Dave coming in is going to be a big draw card for us, especially as he’s played a lot of high level Super Rugby and for the Wallabies. Our track down here is going to be hard and fast and we need players like Dave who can show their skills.
“Most of our loose forwards can catch and pass and Dave will add to that. I played against him a few times and he’s very physical, has great knowledge of the game and reads things well. He’s a big, athletic bloke as well.”
Waldrom, right, is confident Dennis and fellow Australian Greg Holmes, who is joining from Queensland Reds, will adapt to English conditions and quickly establish themselves as crowd favourites in the manner of former Chief, Dean Mumm. He added:“It’s a challenge for the Aussie guys in English conditions but it’s about them coming here and just adapting to what we’re trying to do. Dean did that and we want them to enjoy the way we play and get on the field as quickly as possible.
“It motivates you seeing guys like Dave and Greg come in and it’s good for the young guys as well to see how guys from different parts of the world play. It’s an exciting time for Exeter and the arrival of these guys can only be good for the club.”
Waldrom is also backing Chiefs’ playmaker Henry Slade and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie to bounce back from the disappointment of failing to show up strongly on England’s summer tour of Australia.
Both had high hopes, but Slade did not feature in any of the three Tests while Cowan-Dickie came off the bench in the first match in Brisbane before losing his place to Jamie George.
Waldrom said: “Our Saxons boys went really well and Jack Nowell was great for England in Australia, but I was disappointed for Sladey and Dickie not to get much game time.
“But they’ve got to learn from those experiences. England have gone Down Under and won a Test series, which not many teams have, so it’s been good for them to be part of that team environment and they’ll bring back a lot from winning.
“Last season was disrupted for Henry with his injury, but he’s young and he’s got that bit about him where you know he’s going to come back stronger and take things on board. He’ll play a lot of rugby now and that will make things easier.
“The same goes for Luke, and Rob will make sure both these boys come back to the club with a good attitude. They can’t dwell on what’s happened because if they want to get into that England side they’ve got to perform well for us.”
Waldrom, 33, last week signed a new contract with the Chiefs that could see him end his top-flight playing days in Devon. And the popular Kiwi hopes to celebrate with a new-look after undergoing a hair transplant over the summer.
He explained: “You can either embrace baldness or do something about it and I didn’t want to go down the line of shaving my head. “An opportunity came up and although it’s a long process, hopefully by the end of next season I’ll have a mullet or something.
“Julian Salvi, Ben White and Haydn Thomas are thinning as well and want to see the results of my transplant before taking the plunge.”
After missing May’s Premiership final with medial ligament damage, Waldrom is looking forward to hitting the silverware trail again.
He added: “I only missed one game but it was the biggest one in the club’s history and that was really disappointing. But we made another step forward by reaching that final and we want to emulate it and then go one better.
“It’s about looking at what we did well last season and repeating it, while tweaking a few little things we feel we can improve upon.”