Pellow hails Exeter win

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs coach Ricky Pellow hailed an "outstanding display" from his side as they returned to winning ways with a 29-18 victory over Northampton Saints in the LV= Cup.

First half tries from Ben White, Jack Nowell and newcomer Watisoni Votu paved the way for Exeter's first win since mid-December, whilst Ignacio Mieres weighed in with the remainder of the home side's points.

The Saints countered with tries from Alex Waller and Lee Dickson (2) and points from the boot of replacement Stephen Myler, but it was never enough against an impressive Chiefs outfit.

Pellow said: "We talked all week about the intensity that we needed to bring to the game in our carries and intensity in our line speed. We didn’t give them any chance to breathe and it showed when we created chances and took them.

"We had identified some areas where we could get some softer and weaker tackles to work an offload - and we worked on it in the week and it paid dividends today."

Whereas seven days earlier the Chiefs had failed to turn possession and territory into points at Bath, there was no such problems on this occasion as they stormed into a 22-0 lead inside the opening 30 minutes at Sandy Park.

Pellow added: "If you look at Bath last week we created a lot of chances in that game, but we didn't take them. It was something we spoke about this week, being more clinical in attack, and I thought it was an outstanding display in the end.

"They came down with a strong squad and the momentum swung a little bit when they used their strong bench, but we ripped it back off them, and at the end we were pushing for a bonus point.

"Their driving line-out and their scrum are their go-to strengths, but I think we matched them at the scrum, and the driving line-outs are hard to stop. We did it at times and they did gain a little bit of momentum there but we fought really hard."

Indeed, Pellow believes the win was just the tonic the Chiefs needed ahead of this week's return to Aviva Premiership action at lowly Sale Sharks.

"Across the board the squad is hugely competitive and if everyone is competitive and fighting for places, then it only breeds success," continued Pellow. "I am sure there are guys today - and again last week - who have put their hands up not just for next week at Sale, but also for further along in the Premiership.

"Right now I think we are very excited about where we are and how we are moving forward. What we needed was to nail a game down and today was a massive statement in that sense. I'm sure this performance will give us a real positive to take into Sale and for us to attack next week."

Meanwhile, Saints’ director of rugby Jim Mallinder bemoaned his side’s first-half performance.

"It’s disappointing, you want to come down and you want to win," he said. "Of course, we knew that we needed a bonus point to qualify for the semi-finals and what you have to do when you come to a place like this is that you have to match teams, particularly on the physicality side.

"In that first half, we were still in the hotel or still on the bus, whatever you might say, and they were more up for it than us and we slipped off tackles.

"I was pleased when we came back in the second half when we were a lot more intent, particularly in our defence, and we were driving them back and looking sharper in attack, but it was a little bit too late."

Saints were left in the position of having to get a bonus-point win by Bath running in five tries in their 32-5 demolition of Gloucester at Kingsholm, and Mallinder admitted that had affected the way his side had approached the game.

"It does change your game plan massively, but we still talked about building a lead at the right times, but to concede a couple of early tries like that and you are suddenly concentrating on just winning the game," he said.

"The forwards did well in terms of our maul, particularly in the second half, but our set-piece was not as good after the break, and not what we normally produce."