Whitten says Chiefs will aim to improve
Irishman knows Exeter must raise standards to make European progress after Munster draw
Ian Whitten says Exeter Chiefs must improve if they are to claim a first European Champions Cup victory of the season away to French champions Castres on Saturday.
Exeter produced a battling display in their 10-10 draw with Munster at Sandy Park last weekend.
While Whitten feels the Chiefs can be proud of that result against the Irish outfit, he feels they will have to step up a gear if they are to leave Stade Pierre-Fabre with a win and maintain their hopes of qualifying from Pool Two.
“We are well in it still – Saturday’s result was not a disaster, by any means,” said the 31-year-old centre.
“It’s important we take something from Saturday, though. We need to put something together and be that bit sharper.
“We know how to win there but we know how tough it is to travel to France and win as well,” the Irishman added.
“We’ve had good results and bad results over there. It is a big game but we know, if we front up and produce our best stuff, then we are more than capable of winning there.”
The Devon team make the journey having won twice in France in Europe’s top cup competition.
Not only were they victorious in late 2016 with a 20-12 win at Bordeaux-Bègles, they also collected a 27-24 success at Montpellier last season.
Those wins came after a long barren spell away to French sides, and Whitten confirmed that the club’s outlook on European competition has changed over the years.
“It think the attitude has changed from our first major European campaign, when we were happy to be in it and were happy to have made the top six,” the former Ulster player said.
“Now, we want to push on and it is a big goal for us. We have five games to go, so we have to attack every one of those. Big European games are the ones you remember and I will certainly remember that game against Munster.
“We were playing one of the top teams in Europe and it is a level you don’t see every week in the Premiership, but we were well up for the task and the lads fronted up really well.”
Looking back on last Saturday’s draw, Whitten – who joined the Chiefs in 2012 – insisted there was no shame in drawing with the Irish province, but he also struggled to conceal the team’s disappoint in failing to kick off their campaign with a home win.
The Lisburn-born back said: “Munster was a tough match. We probably didn’t do as much with the ball in the first half as we should have done. In the second half, we had to fight and could easily have lost the game.
“To come away with the draw playing as we did into the wind was a big positive. The flip side is that we didn’t do enough in the first half and probably let two points slip at home. Hopefully it won’t cost us, but you have to win your home games.”