Match Reaction - Steve Salvin
By Mark Stevens
3/12/22
Exeter Chiefs Women’s coach Steve Salvin was full of praise for his side as they swept aside the challenge of Worcester Warriors at Sandy Park in Round Three of the Allianz Premier 15s.
A week after thumping DMP Sharks 95-0 on the road, the Chiefs were again in formidable form, scoring ten tries in their 62-18 success.
Tries from Kate Zackary, Nichola Fryday, Liv McGoverne and Clara Nielson ensured the bonus point was wrapped up by half time, after which further touchdowns from Flo Robinson, Ebony Jefferies, Maisy Allen, Katie Buchanan, Panashe Muzambe and Cliodhna Moloney put the seal on a stylish showing from the Devonians.
It was, according to Salvin, an impressive display and one both he and head coach, Susie Appleby, hope will really ignite the Chiefs for upcoming challenges against Loughborough Lightning and Harlequins.
“I thought we performed very well,” said Salvin. “We had to grind it out in the first half because Worcester came with real intent and showed some real fight. Where we good, however, was once the dam had broke, we were really clinical.
“The big things is we have a lot of work on our skills with the girls and that goes back to last season, today I thought they came through strongly and was one of the reasons why we scored so many tries.”
With all of their Rugby World Cup stars now back after their exploits in New Zealand, Salvin expects the battle for starting spots to intensify and the standard of work, both in matches and training, to hit a new level.
“You put Kate Zackary on that pitch and you see what a big difference she makes to our side,” added Salvin. “We had a bit of an embrace before kick-off and I said to her ‘it’s so good to see you back’. Today, she showed the level of player she is and and the difference she can make.”
Equally, the club’s ever-growing list of youngsters coming through are also taking their chance to shine and both Salvin and Appleby are excited at what they can bring to the club.
“You look at Lizzie Hanlon and Maisy Allen, they are two 20-year-old kids, yet they are keeping internationals out of the side,” he explained. “We had both Charli Jacoby and Rachel Johnson on the bench, yet we couldn’t change things, simply because of the way they have been performing.
“Katie Buchanan on the wing, I think she’s played in every game so far and scored pretty much in every one of them. Again, she is showing how exciting the calibre of young talent we have within the squad here.”
Next up for the Chiefs is next week’s trip to face Loughborough Lightning at Northampton’s Franklin’s Gardens. Last season the two enjoyed an epic encounter at the same venue with the hosts narrowly edging proceedings.
“It was a proper hum-dinger of a game,” recalls Salvin. “We were a few points up late on, but then we let it get away from us and that was frustrating. In a weird way, though, that result actually worked in our favour as it highlighted a few things and we said afterwards, if we’re going to be successful, we need to fix these things, which is what we did.”
Now the Chiefs are hoping to use the successes of recent weeks as the springboard to attack the remainder of the year with Loughborough up first, followed by the visit of Harlequins, who themselves defeated reigning champions Saracens this weekend.
“Susie just said in the huddle, let’s use these results to ignite us,” explained Salvin. “We’ve got two tough games coming up, but if we can get results from them, then it will give us real momentum heading into the New Year.”