Hodge to hit the ground running

JOSH Hodge insists he’s looking to make up for lost time after making his return to first team action at Exeter Chiefs. 

- MARK STEVENS

The 23-year-old had made a barnstorming start to the season with the Devon club, helping them to secure a place in the last four of the Premiership Rugby Cup, as well as scoring a hat-trick of tries in Exeter’s Premiership thumping of Saracens 65-10.

A week later, though, disaster struck for the gifted full-back as he was forced from the field at Harlequins with a dislocated elbow.

Faced with the prospect of being potentially sidelined for up to five months, it was rotten luck for the Lancaster-born back who was clearly blossoming in the Chiefs anchor role following the summer retirement of Stuart Hogg.

Hodge, however, is a fiercely determined character and despite the prognosis and the subsequent surgery that followed, he left no stone unturned in terms of his rehab programme, returning to action quicker than anticipated at the end of last month.