Wing ace Woodburn aims for higher honours
OLLY WOODBURN has smashed the “glass ceiling” that held him back for so long and now the sky’s the limit for the Exeter flyer.
In four seasons with Bath, Woodburn always impressed when called upon, but with internationals such as Anthony Watson, Semesa Rokoduguni and Matt Banahan ahead in the pecking order, he fell on the wrong side of selection in big games.
That forced his hand for a change of scenery and he joined Exeter last season. It proved a fine move and 24 appearances later, he is now one of Rob Baxter’s first names on the team sheet.
His integration to new surroundings was such a success that he has already made it onto the club shop window at Sandy Park alongside local heroes Jack Nowell and Henry Slade.
And the the 24-year-old is relishing another crack in the Champions Cup this season. He told the The
Rugby Paper: “We want to challenge for trophies again this season after the Premiership final and being so close to making the Champions Cup semi-finals and I’d love to win a trophy with these guys.
“It’s beena great move for me and I needed to take the next step in my career after hitting a glass ceiling at Bath. I always trained well and was in and around the team, but I never really found my feet.
“I was always seen as a young player even after four years into the team. They also had some very good wingers which meant however well I played they seemed to be picked for the big games.
“I had a very good first season out of school but then I ruptured my Achilles in 2013 and was out for seven months across two seasons. Memory is very short in rugby and if you’re out for a few weeks it’s hard to come back.
“With Exeter, you know what you have to do to get into the team and if you work hard and live up to those challenges you’ll play regardless if you’re an international or not. It’s a great breeding ground for young players.
“They accepted me really quickly, they saw I wanted to train hard and achieve great things and I think that’s why it worked so well because both parties were very receptive.”
After helping Exeter reach the Premiership final against Saracens, Woodburn nearly capped a dream season by touring South Africa with the Saxons, who were coached by Ali Hepher, his backs coach at the Chiefs.
“Ali told me I was on the reserve list for the Saxons tour and I might have joined the squad if there had been another injury.
“It was good to know I was talked about in that sense and that made my first season at Exeter even more of a success. It gives me another target now and I want to push on this season.”
The Chiefs kick off their European campaign today against Clermont at Sandy Park in a similar looking pool to last season. In fact, aside from Ulster replacing the Ospreys, it will be the same line-up, with Bordeaux-Begles completing the panel.
But there is a difference this year as Exeter are the top seeds and Woodburn admits this is something he and his teammates are still learning to get used to.
He added: “We used to be the underdogs but it’s not the case anymore. We’ve noticed that every team is stepping it up when they face us.
“It’s something we have to get used to and we’re trying to make that transition ourselves too. We have to play at our best every week if we want to win.
“You have to approach things differently when it comes to the Champions Cup because you’re taking on different opposition and the referees are not the ones we’re used to.
“That said we pretty much have the same pool as last year and we start with a big one at home. I played in that game against Clermont where we got the win last year and it was great. It will be another big game.”