Exeter Chiefs' Thomas Waldrom insists his sights are firmly set on bringing silverware back to Sandy Park this season.

The image of No.8 Waldrom crossing the whitewash has been an almost constant one with the 33-year-old topping the Aviva Premiership Rugby try-scoring charts in the past two seasons with hauls of 16 and 13.

In fact, Waldrom is Aviva Premiership Rugby’s most prolific forward in the competition’s history, but the Kiwi-born ace is focussing on an even bigger goal this term.

Exeter reached their first-ever Twickenham Final last season only to lose 28-20 as Saracens successfully defended their crown.

But Rob Baxter’s charges look well placed for another assault on the title, while they also have an Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final against Harlequins to look forward to next month.

Exeter Chiefs won the Anglo-Welsh Cup back in 2014 and Waldrom is targeting yet more silverware in this campaign too.

“The boys have gone out there and done a great job in the Anglo-Welsh Cup,” he said.

“You want to play every game, but we have a big squad so you have to rotate It’s a great chance for the young guys and that’s what we’ve been seeing across the Anglo-Welsh weekends. It shows that everyone is hungry to play.

“We had a slow start in both Europe and Aviva Premiership Rugby, not able to find that rhythm to get where we wanted to go, but we’ve been finding what works for us each week and over the past three or four months we’ve been back to where we want to be.

“It’s about giving it momentum now, everyone buying into what has given us those victories and not letting off which we perhaps may have done earlier in the season.

“We’re in the top half of the table so things are in our hands, and that’s what you want to be able to perform, it’s in our control and you don’t want to be relying on other results. 

“We’ve had a few injuries in the back row, some guys out for long periods of time, but we’ve got guys coming back and that adds to the competition in the squad.

“We want to keep progressing and we’re eyeing up getting one step further than last year, so we want to keep performing well each week.”

Waldrom was speaking at the launch of this year’s Aviva #DriveSafer campaign alongside team-mates Olly Woodburn and Ollie Devoto. 

As part of the campaign, Aviva and all 12 Premiership Rugby clubs are highlighting the dangers of dangerous driving caused by distractions, with a particular focus on the use of mobile phones.

Waldrom said: “There really is no excuse for using a mobile phone while driving.

“The three of us wanted to put Exeter Chiefs behind Aviva’s #DriveSafer campaign, it’s a very important one and we’re glad to be part of it.”

Despite his try-scoring exploits Waldrom only has five England caps to his name, three of those coming as a starter.

But he admits the current No.8s at Eddie Jones’ disposal are of the highest quality as England bid to defend their RBS Six Nations crown.

“I think Nathan Hughes will continue to do a great job without Billy Vunipola being available,” Waldrom added.

“You don’t want him to change too much of what he’s done for Wasps, you want him getting his hands on the ball and going forward and that’s what they’ve done with Billy.

“Hopefully he can slot into that same role, use his hands when necessary and mix it up a little bit instead of just being a battering ram.

“They’re both different, everyone is a little different and they have their strengths and weaknesses, it’s about England make sure they play to Nathan’s strengths as they do with Billy.

“Get him in the game early and he can roll from there, stamp his authority.”

Exeter Chiefs are proud to support Aviva, title sponsor of Premiership Rugby, on their #DriveSafer campaign and help raise awareness of dangerous driving. Download the Aviva Drive app to see how safe your driving is.