Castres win 'should drive Exeter hunger', says Chiefs head coach Ali Hepher

Olly Woodburn's try sealed Exeter's bonus point at Castres

Exeter head coach Ali Hepher hopes his side's bonus-point win at Castres in the Heineken Champions Cup can drive them on to be successful this season.

The Chiefs' 27-12 win in France came after four losses in their past five Premiership matches.

It left Exeter second in Pool A ahead of the Bulls' visit to Sandy Park at the weekend.

"They're all special, these nights in Europe, and away wins in Europe particularly," said Hepher.

He told BBC Radio Devon: "I'm delighted for those younger lads to experience that, and that should really drive their hunger to be better and better and want to go and win things.

"We've got a good squad, we're a tough bunch of lads in there, and they showed that."

The victory was Exeter's first away win in the Champions Cup since they won the title in 2020.

"I'm really pleased, the way the guys stuck at it, they were tough and resilient [in the] first 20 minutes and put a lot of heat on our breakdown, but we actually just stuck to our core processes and worked our way through it," added Hepher, who had internationals such as Stuart Hogg and Sam Simmonds back in the side.

"We did a lot of damage in that first half without necessarily getting the reward, and then in the second half we saw that a lot of play started to open up for us, a lot of spaces opened up for us and we were able to capitalise.

"I'm delighted with the way the guys stuck at it, it was tough. We deliberately wanted them to make it tough on themselves because then you know you're working the opposition, and we did that."