Match Reaction - Ali Hepher

By Mark Stevens
23/10/22

Exeter Chiefs head coach Ali Hepher said there was plenty to be proud of in his side’s narrow 22-20 defeat to Gallagher Premiership leaders Saracens at Sandy Park.

Henry Slade’s late penalty looked as though it was going to be enough for the Devonians in this Round Seven encounter, but up stepped Sarries replacement Alex Goode to land a match-winning blow with a penalty of his own with the last kick of the game.

In a fiercely contested encounter between two of the English game’s heavyweight performers, the two sides were locked at 10-10 at the interval, before the visitors pulled clear midway through the second half with three successful penalties.

Jacques Vermeulen’s converted try, plus Slade’s penalty, looked as though it was going to be enough for the Chiefs to secure a third successive home victory, only for the Londoners to strike late on when Patrick Schickerling was penalised for popping out of a scrum.

Post-game, Hepher said: “We’ve probably rode our luck a little bit with tight finishes at home this season, but we always knew today was going to be tough. To be fair, the guys poured everything into it and attitude-wise we’re in a good place. Obviously, there are some things we need to tidy up, but a lot of what we saw out there was very pleasing.

“What really hurt us was that period in the second half when we went error on error on error and against a side like Saracens it’s tough to claw that back. Our fightback, though, was phenomenal and it was good to see the fight in the players, what we have to do this week is look at the video and just addresses those little areas and those basics, because they are crucial in big games like this.”

In a first half in which the Chiefs dominated both territory and possession, Hepher admitted soft scores had come back to hurt his side.

“If we’re honest, we let them score too easily in what we’re difficult conditions out there,” he added. “We weren’t aggressive enough in that period, but in the second half you saw when we got it together, they couldn’t pass the ball and we really suffocated them. That’s the frustration because we know when we get it right, we cause problems to the opposition.

“Also, we know we need to be a little bit more clinical in certain areas. We got into their 22 quite a few times, but we didn’t quite convert, so again that’s something we will look at this week and look to put right moving forward.”

As well as the defeat, the other downside to the day was the sight of skipper Luke Cowan-Dickie having to be replaced at half time due to a knee injury. The hooker is due to report into England’s training camp in Jersey on Monday, but that may not be the case now.

“At the moment it’s a bit early to say too much about Luke,” continued Hepher. “He will be scanned in the next day or so, after which we will know a bit more. That said, we’ve got Jack Yeandle and Jack Innard, both of whom are playing well, so we’ll see what happens.”

Next up for the Chiefs is Friday night’s visit to Kingsholm to face Gloucester, who come into the game on the back of victory over London Irish this weekend.

“It’s always tough up there, but it’s always a game we look forward to,” said Hepher. “The last time we played on a Friday night [against Bristol] we were very good, so hopefully we can do the same again. Right now, we’ll go away from this game, look at everything and look to hit that pitch next week in good nick.”