It’s always a challenge as a young player to compete for a place within your club side, even more so when your older brother is the current first-choice in your position.

At 20 years of age, Sam Maunder, younger brother to Jack has already achieved a lot in his career so far. Having made his Exeter Chiefs debut in their Gallagher Premiership fixture at home to Sale Sharks in September 2018, he went on to make his England U20 debut in the 2019 Six Nations against Ireland and he was also part of the squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship that year.

Playing alongside your bother is always a challenge but it is one Maunder has relished.
“Having Jack ahead of me is a massive help. He doesn’t hold any information back from me and is a great teacher.”

Looking back on what he has achieved thus far, Maunder has already had several special moments on a rugby field that will stay with him forever.

“I have two memories that stick out,’’ he explains, "One was playing my debut for Exeter when I got to replace my brother. I think that was a special moment. The next was captaining the U20s vs France away. We won that day and my parents where there so was another cool moment."

That U20’s fixture Maunder refers to was a classic of a match, highlighting all that age-group level international rugby represents, as EURFC and Exeter Chiefs teammate Richard Capstick scored with the last play of the match to secure a thrilling 29-24 victory on French soil for a side captained by Maunder.

Maunder has made 12 appearances for Exeter Chiefs thus far and 9 BUCS Super Rugby appearances for EURFC, juggling a degree with international and club commitments. With time still to go at Exeter University, Maunder is hoping the BUCS Super Rugby season can get under way sooner rather than later, to try to tick off one rugby aspiration that time is running out to achieve.

“I don’t like to look too far ahead but in the short term, I’d love to win BUCS if Covid permits and get my degree.”

Before the shutdown back in March, EURFC had secured a second-place finish in the league and were gearing up to face Swansea in the quarter finals. The lockdown and cancellation of the rest of the season deprived players such as Maunder with the opportunity to secure a BUCS Super Rugby title. That season did though provide Maunder with one of his standout moments in an EURFC shirt.

“One of the best moments playing for the university was a game at home vs Durham with hail and sideways winds. It was horrible but we managed to beat them. They were top of the league at the time and I remember it being a nice feeling once we won that game.”
Whilst the conditions were not quite as apocalyptic as the 2016 game against Durham, where a tree was blown over onto the rubber crumb, the conditions and what was riding on the game back in December 2019 made it a crucial encounter.

Durham had beaten Exeter earlier in the season, with the side going into the game knowing that defeat would almost certainly end a title challenge before Christmas. EURFC seemed to revel in the pressure, delivering a consummate display to secure a 32-8 victory in atrocious conditions, marshalled superbly by Maunder.

With his time with EURFC slowly coming to an end, Maunder is keen to credit the importance of the university rugby programme in developing him as a player, as well as the quality of challenge BUCS Super Rugby presents to players.

“University Rugby has been a massive benefit for me and maintains a benefit to me as it allows me to get a high standard of rugby. As a scrum-half, the university games are so quick that it tests your decision making and because it’s so quick, there are more spaces, so it helps me develop other elements of my game which you don’t always get in a professional environment.”

“The link between Chiefs and the University has helped in so many ways. The link between the coaches like Haydn (Thomas) and Keith (Fleming) being part of the university and also Chiefs helps with creating a professional type environment into a university level team. This has led to the university training sessions being hard and of a high level which means that you can grow as a player.”