Pellow in seven heaven
By Mark Stevens
4/11/17
Skills coach Ricky Pellow was full of praise for his Exeter Chiefs side as they kicked off their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign in style with a seven-try victory over Northampton Saints at Sandy Park.
The Chiefs were in dominant mood from the outset, racing into a 31-14 leads thanks to first half tries from James Short, Toby Salmon, James Freeman, Alec Hepburn and Elvis Taione.
Although the home side were not quite as ruthless after the break, they still put the seal on a fine display, adding further tries through Tom O’Flaherty and Salmon to ensure a 43-28 success.
Northampton did their best to repel the Chiefs in an entertaining contest, but their scant reward on the day was a try bonus point thanks to converted scores from George Burbank, Tom Stephenson, Juan-Pablo Estelles and Rory Hutchinson.
Post-match, Pellow - who has steered the Chiefs to three successive finals in this competition - reflected on a job well done for his team, which handed first-ever starts to James Freeman, O’Flaherty, Sam M’Boge and a debut showing for replacement Sam Morley.
“To score 40-odd points against a very good Northampton side is a massive positive for us,” said Pellow. “Anyone who watched the game will see that when we had the ball in attack, we look very dangerous and offered a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
“What we’re a little bit frustrated about is that we didn’t transfer that into our defensive structure. Moving forward we know we still have things to work on defensively before we go to the Scarlets next week, but overall to get a home win in our opening game is massively pleasing.”
With both sides taking the opportunity to shake up their line-ups with a healthy mix of youth and experience, it was the Chiefs who forged together impressively to produce a strong showing.
“Northampton are a very good side and even though they went behind, they never gave up and they kept coming at us until the end,” added Pellow. “In the end, though, I thought the scoreline reflected the game. Yes, there are areas for us to work on, but some of the rugby we played to score our points was outstanding.”
A solid foundation laid by the Exeter pack helped the Chiefs to get the perfect attacking platform and Cornishman Pellow hailed the work of his forwards, including those who came off the bench to such deadly effect.
“In any game of rugby, set-piece is massively important,” continued Pellow. “In the front-row, I thought Moray Low, Elvis Taione and Alec Hepburn were very strong and when Marcus Street came on, he’s only 19 you have to remember, he just kept it going against what was a very competitive Northampton front-row. Also, our line-out functioned well and we got some good go forward there as well.
“Having that kind of base allowed us then to release our backs, who again did very well. Tom O’Flaherty has been outstanding for a number of our games in the A League. He’s been scoring tries and leading the highlights list - and today he was very strong again as was James Short on the other wing.
“Also, anyone who knows Kai Horstmann knows he always leads from the front - and he did that again today - as did Sam Skinner. Between them they got through a lot of unseen work and were very prominent in terms of the forwards.”
Next up for the Chiefs will be next Sunday’s trip to West Wales and a clash against the Scarlets at Parc Y Scarlets. Pellow is well aware another stiff challenge awaits his side, but he’s confident a similar display to this can serve him and his team well in their quest to advance within the competition.
“We say it ever year, but we go after every competition we play in,” said Pellow. “The Anglo-Welsh Cup has been a great tool for us over the years, not just in terms of developing players, but also in terms of getting some much-needed game time into some of our senior players.
“It’s a big part of our jigsaw puzzle and we challenge the guys, whoever plays, to go out there and really stake their claim. How we attack this competition is a massive part of our make-up, so to get this first win is a big thing for us, but now we’ve got to follow it up with an equally important performance next week up at the Scarlets.”