Salmon's chance to shine
By Mark Stevens
7/11/17
Toby Salmon is hoping to get another chance to impress the Exeter coaching staff after his try-scoring exploits in the Chiefs’ 43-28 victory over Northampton Saints at the weekend.
The summer signing from Rotherham marked only his second appearance for the Chiefs by claiming two of his side’s seven tries as the Devon club kicked off their Anglo-Welsh Cup campaign in style.
Now, the 24-year-old lock will be looking to impress once more when Rob Baxter’s side head to Wales on Sunday for their latest Cup clash against the Scarlets (3pm).
“A lot of us having been training and playing in the A League, waiting for our opportunity, so this competition is a good chance for all of us to put our hands up,” said Salmon.
“Saturday was a good start for us and there was a lot of excitement amongst the group coming into the game. A bit like us, they [Saints] had been going well in the A League, so we knew that everybody was going to be up for the game.
“A lot of what we did was good, but as we said in the changing rooms after, there are still things to work on. For 60 minutes we were really good, especially in attack, but our defence was where we want it to be and we fell off a bit in that last 20.
“I’m sure we’ll look to improve that this week, but we know we have another tough test against the Scarlets. Against the Premiership sides you know what to expect, but we don’t play the Pro 14 sides that often, so we’ll have to do a bit more research on them to see what threats they pose.”
Certainly, the Scarlets have shown in recent times that they are a force to be reckoned with, establishing themselves not only as the leading club in Wales, but also as one of Europe’s emerging lights.
Salmon insists, however, the focus for himself and his fellow Chiefs is predominantly on themselves and ensuring they can at least match - or better - their display shown against the Saints.
“I think for all of us it’s good to get game time in a competition like this,” added Salmon. “As a new player coming in, it’s not only good to get first-team experience, but it’s good that the coaches here go after every competition we are in. It’s an important part of our progression moving forward.”
