Exeter stalwart Yeandle eyes cup glory after bouncing back from howler

‘I wanted to sub myself off, leave Sandy Park and never return’: Exeter stalwart Jack Yeandle is ready for more cup glory after bouncing back from try-line gaffe… but don’t call him Stephen

• Yeandle is an Exeter stalwart with more than 250 games and grew up in Crediton
• But he admits he doesn’t like being called by his official first name of Stephen

Jack Yeandle has long been part of the furniture at Sandy Park, and never more so than on Saturday — when fans will search for 10 pictures of the home-town hooker’s bald head in Exeter’s match-day Easter egg hunt.

You don’t need a PhD in code-cracking to work out the connection. Asked to reveal his nickname, Yeandle rubbed his scalp and said: ‘Egg — very obvious, very simple!’

But that’s not all his fellow Chiefs call the long-time club captain. Every now and again they refer to him as Stephen, for the simple reason that that’s his real name. Any mention of it winds him up.

‘Blame my dad for that entirely,’ said Yeandle. ‘My dad is Stephen Frederick John Yeandle and he wanted me to be named Stephen, but I think my mum didn’t, so it’s Stephen Jack Yeandle, but they have always called me Jack.

‘It’s a nightmare. Think of all the official documents you’ve got to sort out and they ask for your name, on the phone. I say Jack Yeandle and they come back saying, “We don’t have that”. So I have to just say Stephen. I feel like I’m so far down the rabbit hole now, I can’t be bothered to go through all that paperwork to change it.’

Hometown-hooker Jack Yeandle is still enthused and is not ready to contemplate retirement

Yeandle has been able to enjoy the afterglow of scoring the decisive try against Montpellier

Yeandle is a true Exeter stalwart, with more than 250 appearances, having grown up down the road in Crediton and supporting the Chiefs at the old County Ground before they reached the big time.

Aside from a spell at university in Cardiff and a professional career-launching stint at Doncaster, his sporting life has revolved around Exeter and has seen him lead the club to Premiership and European glory.

This week he has been able to enjoy the afterglow of scoring the try against Montpellier which earned Rob Baxter’s side a shot at the Stormers from Cape Town in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final. 

For Yeandle, the try was a means of saving face after he squandered a scoring chance moments earlier.

‘I probably wanted to tactically sub myself off, leave Sandy Park and never return,’ he said of that moment when replays showed he had only succeeded in ‘grounding’ the ball against an opponent’s knee.

‘I think if we’d lost that game, I’d probably have had to retire there and then. I copped some heat and rightly so. I would be doing exactly the same to anyone else.’

So, how did it feel to make amends at the death? ‘Yeah, just complete relief,’ he added. ‘When I scored, the celebrations were more, “I didn’t cock it up”!’

Saturday’s fixture is a grand occasion for Exeter in a season of struggle and transition. The Chiefs are sixth in the Premiership and just a fortnight ago, director of rugby Baxter was scathing about his players after a defeat at Bath.

The clock is ticking towards the end of a Devonian dynasty. The champion team of recent years is breaking up. Several key men such as Jonny Hill, Tom O’Flaherty and Sam Skinner have already moved on. Others are leaving soon — with England stars Jack Nowell, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds all off to France.

There has been a close bond between this core of local talent and for a while they lived side by side, too.

‘They’re my previous neighbours,’ said Yeandle. ‘I used to live in between Luke and Jack.

‘Living there in lockdown, Jack had just built a gym so we could use that all the time.

‘It was great fun living next to those two boys. We never saw that much of Luke because he was in a very heavy gaming stage at the time! But it was great to be neighbours together, in our tucked-away street. Jack had been in touch with the builder who built all the houses. We were selling a house and just looking around. Jack said, “The one door next to me is available, you should have a look at it”.

‘It was really good quality so I wanted to get it, then Luke moved in about a year or so later. It’s a nice location, good houses, but pretty average neighbours!’

More recently, Yeandle has moved back to his childhood home, and Nowell, Cowan-Dickie and Co are months away from an emotional exit. But the good ‘Egg’ at the heart of Exeter’s pack for so many years is still enthused and is not ready to contemplate retirement.

The 33-year-old is a true Exeter stalwart, with more than 250 appearances for the club

‘I’m buzzing for the quarter-final this weekend,’ he said. ‘I love training, I love weights sessions with the boys, I enjoy getting stuck into all of it. It’s just a fun place and a fun job.’

The Stormers arrive in Exeter with a formidable array of Springbok firepower, but Yeandle is not about to pay them too much respect.

‘They are going to be a typical, lumpy South African side,’ the 33-year-old said. ‘They have got some big units.

‘People put them up here (high), but they’ve never been to Sandy Park, have they? They’ve never been in a quarter-final of Europe. We’re going to have a go at them. When we are at our best and our attack is purring, I don’t think there is any team that can live with us.’

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