Match Reaction - Steve Salvin
By James Fowler
29/1/23
Exeter Chiefs Women’s Assistant Coach Steve Salvin praised his side’s ‘fluid’ performance as they secured a comprehensive 84-0 Allianz Premier 15s victory over winless Wasps Women.
In what was another ruthless performance from the Devonians, they scored a staggering 14 tries in total, ten of those coming in a dominant second half display, which included a hat-trick from American star Kate Zackary.
There were also tries for Emily Tuttosi, Claudia MacDonald, Rachel Johnson, Flo Robinson, Laura Sheehan, Edel McMahon, Hope Rogers, as well as two each for Liv McGoverne and Eilidh Sinclair, and for the second week in succession the opposition were kept scoreless, in what was yet another impressive defensive display from the Chiefs.
Reflecting on his side’s performance, Salvin outlined his pleasure with the way in which the Chiefs performed, particularly the strong showing in the second half.
“We felt there were a couple of areas in the first half we didn’t look after particularly well, particularly around the breakdown, but I felt in the second half we put that right and we were much more fluid, so really happy.”
Salvin felt that a combination of team cohesion and speed of ball was the key factor in being able to pull away from what was at times a stubborn Wasps side.
“They looked really clear in terms of exactly what their roles were and I think that’s when teams tend to flourish and be at their very best,” he added. “We’re a team that likes to play with layers and you could see that in the second half, but I think that was aligned with the speed of ball that we were able to generate in the second half, we just struggled with that in the first half, so those two things combined together and we scored some excellent tries.”
Despite the comprehensive scoreline Salvin was keen to praise the efforts of the Wasps side who showed a huge level of fight throughout the full 80 minutes.
“We didn’t expect anything else but them to be full throttle right from the start and that’s exactly what they were. For the first 20/25 minutes the game was ebbing and flowing in favour of both teams at different times, so we knew we would have to fight to break them down and fortunately that’s what we were able to do, but I think second half the dam broke a little bit and we were able to score some really nice tries.”
Understandably Salvin was salivating over the performance of hat-trick hero Zackary, as the American produced another magnificent display, despite having to make an early switch from the back-row into the centre following an early injury to Nancy McGillvray.
“There’s not another player in the world that can do what she does,” added Salvin. “To be world class in two different positions and one of those positions being the forwards and the other one being in the backs, it’s such a unique thing to have and again she was just unbelievable today.
“We started her in the back-row this week, she’s played in that 13 channel for the last two weeks, because of a bump we got (to McGilvray) we ended up with her back in the 13 channel and she was just exceptional again, so we’re very lucky to have someone that talented.”
There were some notable changes made to the side for the game with Wasps, which included handing Welsh fly-half Robyn Wilkins her first start and moving McGoverne into the centre.
“We thought we were getting more of a 12 with Liv, but obviously Liv’s shone in that 10 channel over the past 4 or 5 weeks, but what we have clearly got in that position and we’ve not had certainly whilst I’ve been at the club is depth in that 10 spot, so to have that depth is great, but the fact that we can put both of them on the field at the same time likewise gives us a slightly different avenue we can go too in terms of our attacking game.”
Salvin continued; “I thought Robyn (Wilkins) was really good today and likewise I thought seeing Liv (McGoverne) playing at 12 was really exciting as well, so pleased with how they went.”
The victory over Wasps also saw Red Roses star MacDonald making her debut at scrum-half despite being considered a world class winger, and Salvin felt she produced a ‘solid performance’ in her less customary position.
“They’re so different wing and scrum-half in terms of both from an attack and defence perspective, so a bit like Kate (Zackary) to flick between the two is a real unique skill and it’s certainly something that Claudia’s got. We’ll have a chat about what we do with Claud (MacDonald) moving forward but certainly a very solid performance at nine today.”