Richard Capstick: Exeter flanker relishing return to Premiership action after injury
- Published
Richard Capstick was a regular in the Exeter pack before being injured in November 2022
Richard Capstick hopes he can put almost 18 months of injuries behind him as he prepares to return to Premiership action for Exeter.
The 24-year-old flanker missed almost all of last season after injuring his shoulder in November 2022.
He had to have neck surgery this summer after being injured in a pre-season friendly.
Capstick finally returned to the Exeter side in the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final loss at Gloucester in February.
"It's horrible watching, you always want to be involved," Capstick told BBC Sport.
"Especially when the team's doing really well and competing for trophies and flying, and you're just stood there every Saturday doing corporate duties."
Exeter's young squad have surprised some pundits with the Devon side in fifth place and two points off second-placed Harlequins with six matches to go.
They host bottom-of-the-table Newcastle on Saturday in their return to action after the Six Nations.
"It's a really exciting time to come back in now with the big run-in we've got," added Capstick, who appeared in Exeter's Premiership final loss to Harlequins in 2021 and has played 59 times since his debut in 2019.
"If we win a fair few games we can be in a few finals, hopefully."
He added: "You just get a few wins and you can fly up, but then if you lose a couple you can just drop right down.
"If we can build a bit of momentum and get a few wins back-to-back it can put us in a great place and everyone starts talking about bigger things, but the most important thing is turn up this weekend and perform against Newcastle."
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