Exeter Chiefs full-back Stuart Hogg believes his side’s 27-12 win over Castres in the Champions Cup is one of the “special nights” in Europe for the club.
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Hogg’s side came away with a bonus point win in their fourth victory on French soil in the competition’s history after receiving a “bit of bollocking at half-time”.
“Proud”
The Scotsman is delighted with Exeter’s effort and is looking to back it up next week as the Premiership side host the Bulls at Sandy Park.
“I’m hugely proud of that performance,” Hogg said.
“We talked about having special nights in Europe and we knew coming across to Castres was going to be one hell of a challenge for us.
“To come away with a bonus-point win is everything we wanted. Now the challenge is to back it up next week.
“We stuck to our game plan and got a bit of a bollocking at half-time. After that we came out and showed them what we are properly about in the second half.”
Hogg felt the game plan was functioning well in the first period but Castres managed to get a foothold in the game to level the scores at 12-12 at the break.
Good second period
However, Exeter showed their class in the second half, scoring two tries through Sam Maunder and Olly Woodburn to round out the bonus point win, and a great start to the Champions Cup.
“Our game plan was working for us in the first half, but we went off script and didn’t get numbers to the breakdown quickly enough. Credit to Castres they turned us over,” Hogg added.
“The two tries we scored in the first half was a bit of us, we went through multi-phases and eventually scored. That’s what we are about, and we needed a little bit more of it.
“Maybe we were concentrating a little bit too much on them and not what we were about. The second half was exactly us and we’ll enjoy this one.
“We have had 60-70 minute performances this season, but not the full 80. A times it’s not always going to be perfect, but then you get your rewards on night like this.”