Day One display delights Pellow
By Mark Stevens
28/7/18
Ricky Pellow praised the quality of his Exeter Chiefs side as they advanced their way into the knockout stages of this year’s Premiership Rugby 7s at Franklin’s Gardens.
The Devonians were in impressive form on the night, defeating Worcester Warriors () and Bath () with bonus point victories to top Pool C and set-up a last eight meeting with Saracens today.
“That was a quality sevens performance from the guys,” said Pellow after Day One. “I thought our defensive work off the ball was outstanding throughout the night. We worked hard to shut down the space, which in turn led to turnovers and pressure from us.
“George Chatterton and Flats [Tom O’Flaherty] glued everything together, whilst in attack we looked dangerous virtually every time we were on the ball.”
O’Flaherty helped himself to a brace of tries on the night, as did first-team colleagues Santiago Cordero and James Short.Guest player Chatterton - who has previously played for England Sevens and who will be attending the University of Exeter as from September - was equally impressive as was skipper Tom Lawday.
Pellow, however, had special mention for a number of the club’s young players, such as Sam Maunder, Charlie Wright, Sal M’Boge, Harry Strong, Sam Morley, Richard Capstick and Barry Karea, all of whom got to experience the big-match atmosphere.
“Santi and Shorty looked dangerous every time they had the ball - and it was great to see Charlie Wright back out there after a long time on the sidelines with his shoulder injury. For all the young guys, though, it was a great experience for them. We came through some pressure situations in both games, but it was those young academy guys who helped finish the job for us.
“Now, we’re into knockout stages and we can really go and attack that part of the competition. We’ll take each game as it comes, but tonight I think we can reflect on a really good squad effort and then focus fully tomorrow on what we hope will be another big day for us.”
Pellow’s comments were echoed by Argentinian international Cordero, who added: “It’s good for me to come back to sevens. I like to play this game as there is more space.This is part of training and getting fit for the new season. We came here to win the competition, so we will try and do our best.”
