Allen at the double for the Chiefs

By Harry Scott-Munro
8/11/21

Young Exeter Chiefs Women’s back-row Maisy Allen impressed for her side against Sale Sharks in Saturday’s Allianz Cup victory over Sale Sharks.

In biblical rain, Allen was imperious, scoring two tries on top of Clara Nielson’s early score to seal the victory for Susie Appleby’s side in a 19-0 success.

“It was hard with the conditions,” admitted Allen, “but we planned for that in training. It wasn’t the smartest we’ve played, but we managed to get there in the end.”

The Chiefs were dominant upfront throughout the match and were unlucky to be held up over the line twice in the first half, as they took a slender 7-0 advantage into the break.

Speaking about the messages at half-time, Allen explained that Appleby had challenged the side to keep “being patient” in challenging conditions.

“At half-time the messages were about being patient and playing with the weather,” she added. “In the first half, we were trying to play a bit too much rugby, so we made sure we focused on not overplaying, getting down into their half and showing patience, which we did in the second half.”

Allen is also studying at Exeter University and, with nine current and former students in the Exeter match-day squad, Allen admitted that it was “great” to be out there with so many players who have been through the same journey as her, also expressing her delight at seeing the whole squad show such high-performance levels.

“Quite a lot of us train between the university and Chiefs, so to all play together and have Poppy out there leading us was great. It’s incredible to see everyone on the pitch (together as well.) We’ve all been training together since the start of the season but to see all of those girls coming out and playing, showing their ability, was great to see.”