We should be confident – Slade

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Exeter Chiefs fly-half Henry Slade believes his side's defeat to Toulon on Saturday proves they can compete with the French giants.

Exeter Chiefs fly-half Henry Slade believes his side's defeat to Toulon on Saturday proves they can compete with the French giants.

The Chiefs went down to a narrow 14-9 Heineken Cup loss at Sandy Park, but can take heart from how close they pushed the reigning champions.

They now travel to face the Top 14 outfit at Stade Felix Mayol on Saturday; a seemingly daunting task, but one Slade claims he and his team-mates will approach with confidence.

“I think we should be confident,” Slade told the Chiefs website.

“We only got the one point here and obviously it's going to be a bit harder down there, but if we can get the win then we're back on track. Situations like this you learn from, and hopefully get better from. I'm sure all the boys would say that we'll take a lot from it and move on.”

The 20-year-old pivot replaced Gareth Steenson midway through the first-half on Saturday, and a hat-trick of penalties from the duo had earned Exeter a 9-8 lead at the break.

But a three-pointer from Wallaby Matt Giteau and a late Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal secured the victory for Toulon.

“It was a little bit frustrating, especially with going into half-time with the lead, we thought we had such a lot to give in the second half,” added Slade.

“We had ball but we couldn't do what we wanted with it. A lot of the game was played in our half, which is where the pressure finally told.

“At the end there, we might have just nicked it, but just didn't quite get there. It was a massive game which we'd been looking forward to for a long time.

“I think you saw it at the end there with the energy levels – the boys were out on their feet. It felt like it was so close, but we just couldn't quite get there.”