Chiefs side to face Loughborough
By Harry Scott-Munro
25/3/22
There’s nothing quite like the business end of the season. With Exeter Chiefs Women still fighting on two fronts, tomorrow’s Allianz Cup clash with Loughborough Lightning offers a tantalising opportunity to seal a semi-final berth in the competition in front of a vocal Sandy Park crowd (3pm).
Since the agonising Premier 15s defeat to Loughborough in Northampton just over a month ago, the Chiefs have been in rampant form, dispatching Worcester Warriors and DMP Sharks with consummate performances at Sandy Park.
Reflecting on his side’s recent performances, Assistant Coach Steve Salvin explained how he felt there had been a real mindset shift in the side following that defeat in the East Midlands.
“I remember speaking to a couple of the girls after the game about it being a catalyst for us to then get really good performances in the next two weeks. We’re really pleased with those performances against Worcester and DMP, so now we need to carry that form into the cup.”
Salvin admitted that those most recent performances felt like his side were channelling the frustrations from the Loughborough defeat into their play, with the side fired up from the get-go on both occasions.
“The last two results, the performances were great, but there was a fairly large chunk of frustration in those performances off the back of the frustration from that Loughborough game. We felt that we played really well that day and just came off the wrong side of the result.”
Whilst Salvin joked that it felt like his side always seemed to come up against Loughborough in recent times, he was expecting another exciting clash in the Cup tomorrow.
“My first game here was against Loughborough at home in the league. They are a team we seem to play quite regularly. Obviously, there will be changes for both teams with the internationals all away but as we expected, we know we'll get a full throttle game this weekend.”
The Chiefs will be without Scotland full-back Chloe Rollie, new Ireland captain Nichola Fryday and their Welsh contingent for this weekend’s clash, with Salvin excited to see how the rest of the squad front up in their absence.
“It feels a bit different as we’re coming up against teams that have got international players missing, but the beauty of that is it gives opportunities. We have a handful of girls who will get their opportunity this weekend and I’m sure Loughborough will be no different,” admitted Salvin. “It will be good to see how our girls go in that environment. I’m sure they will do well and put their hand up for selection when we go back into the league.”
Salvin’s side will also be without five players who have linked up with the England U20s side again this week, as Maisy Allen, Flo Robinson, Nancy McGillivray, Abby Middlebrooke and Georgie Grimes ready themselves to take on their French counterparts..
Exeter have supplied the joint-most players to the England squad, with Salvin explaining that the selection of so many of his side’s young guns was “a huge feather in the cap.”
“It’s incredible. We want those girls to be the future of the club. What will be really great is to bring through those homegrown players who are in the U20s set-up. If they can start playing regularly in the Premiership for us, hopefully they can get full England caps off the back of that.”
Ahead of tomorrow’s clash, Salvin and Head Coach Susie Appleby have named an experienced squad. The stand-out name will of course be the returning Gabby Cantorna, but there are also first starts since returning from international duty for the Spanish pair of Patricia Garcia and Laura Delgado, as well as a return from injury for scrum-half Brooke Bradley.
The back three has also undergone a revamp since the match against DMP, with Olivia Jones and Eilidh Sinclair both starting on the wing, whilst Clara Nielson starts at hooker, with Linde van der Velden also coming back into the starting XV.
On the bench, there would be another Chiefs appearance for young university prop Lizzie Hanlon, whilst second row Charlie Willett will be keen to continue her impressive form from the previous two cup outings this season.
With his side still fighting on two fronts, Salvin couldn’t hide his smile, as he admitted that the final run-in is “the best bit of the season.”
“This is the bit where you really want to be involved. Having come into the club relatively late, I feel massively fortunate to have an opportunity to go into two big competitions. I think everyone in the club feels the same way. We want a real crack at this towards the end of the season.”
After a sticky patch several weeks ago, Salvin feels his side are now really moving in the right direction, as they continue to search for “that consistent improvement.”
It is that, along with “the desire and enthusiasm to learn” within the group, that has left Salvin in an optimistic mood when assessing his side’s chances.
“We’re in two competitions and we go week by week. The intention is to prepare thoroughly so that we have the best chance of winning. If you do that week by week, you give yourself the best chance of winning silverware. We’re in both competitions and we want to go as far as we can in both. For me, that just brings opportunity and excitement. We want to make the most of it.”
Tomorrow’s match will be live streamed on the Exeter Chiefs YouTube channel, with coverage starting from 2.45pm.
