Woodman expects response from Chiefs

By James Fowler
14/10/22

Exeter Chiefs Women’s winger Charlotte Woodman believes there has been a great deal of learning for the side in the weeks following their shock loss to the Worcester Warriors in the Allianz Cup.

Susie Appleby's side kicked off the defence of their crown with a thumping 73-0 victory over the DMP Sharks first up, but they were brought down to earth with a bang as the Warriors edged them out 23-21 in Round Two.

“We didn’t perform at our best and we know that," said Woodman, who bagged a hat-trick of tries in the win over the Sharks. "That said, we took a lot away from it. I think there was a lot of nerves because it was our first home game, but we’ve had two weeks off now and we’ve worked on a lot. Our team run so far today has been brilliant, so we’re looking forward to our last training session.”

With regards to the key areas in which this young Chiefs side can improve and focus on following their loss to the Worcester Warriors a few weeks ago, Woodman - who is the daughter of former England World Cup winning prop, Trevor Woodman - believes that sticking to the basics is going to be vitally important.

“Just keeping to our basics and just doing what we do best," she added. "I think we just got a bit too frantic (against Worcester), a little bit too carried away, maybe a little bit over excited by the crowd. We just weren’t working on ourselves and the simple things, so that’s what we’ve really been focussing on”

Looking ahead to the Gloucester-Hartpury game, Woodman was full of praise for their opponents, however she was also keen to emphasise the excitement within the squad for this challenge.

“It’s going to be a good game, they’ve got a strong side, they’ve been doing really well so far this season. Everyone’s absolutely buzzing to get out there and play, so we’re expecting a good game.”

Woodman highlighted what an opportunity this period has been with so many players being away at the World Cup, especially for herself and so many other young members of the squad to showcase their ability.

“We’ve got a lot of young people having an opportunity to step up and show what they’ve got, me included which is brilliant, and it’s good just to get some game time and everyone to show that they’ve got.”