Hepher: This is only the start for Exeter

AS the dust settled on Exeter’s Champions Cup celebrations, Ali Hepher received a message from Paul Larkin, his former coach at Northampton.

‘He texted me asking how it compared with 2000,’ said Hepher, who is now part of an exclusive group to win the competition as a player and a coach.

‘It’s very different. The day after that game in 2000, we had an all-day barbecue when I got my call-up from Clive Woodward for the England tour of South Africa. Afterwards he asked Phil Pask, “Is he smart enough?” Phil said: “Yeah don’t worry, he’s all right, he was just half-cut when you phoned him!” I had to meet up the week after and missed my holiday to Falaraki! When you’re a player, you just go with the absolute moment.’

That 2000 victory over Munster was as good as it got for Hepher’s Northampton and they have not been European champions since. As for Exeter, who kick off their title defence against Glasgow today, Hepher believes they are blessed with a squad who can dominate for years.

‘We were a very old squad in the sense that I was 25 and I think I was the third or fourth youngest,’ said Hepher. ‘Whereas here you look at our bunch of guys and the core group is 26-years-old, so I like to think that we’ve got four or five years with a real quality group.

‘You look at groups that have been successful in the past — Leinster in the Brian O’Driscoll era — and they worked a lot of years to win the Heineken Cup but then they banged in three in quick succession. It’s about experience and the important thing is we’ve got there early.’ Exeter Chiefs v Glasgow. Today, Sandy Park 3.15pm. LIVE on BT Sport 2