Pellow upbeat despite final defeat

By Mark Stevens
8/8/2016

Ricky Pellow was full of praise for his Exeter Chiefs side despite narrowly missing out on lifting the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s crown at the Ricoh Arena.

Having advanced through to Finals Day in Coventry with an umblemished record at Sandy Park two weeks earlier, the Chiefs picked up from where they left off in their opening game on Sunday, smashing rivals Northampton Saints 38-7 to advance into the Cup semi-finals.

Experienced winger Matt Jess led the way for the Chiefs as he scored a hat-trick of tries, whilst there were also touchdowns for Nick Mason and Ted Landry with Joe Simmonds kicking over the remainder of the points.

That victory set up a last four date with Sale Sharks, who had earlier defeated Cardiff Blues 24-17 in the day's opening game.

In a much tougher fixture against the Sharks, Pellow's side had to overcome a 14-7 deficit to eventually progress through 26-21.

Harrison Cully's last-gasp score proved the difference after club-mates Tom Hendrickson and skipper Sam Simmonds (2) had earlier made their way over the whitewash.

That progression meant the Chiefs - who last season won the Plate competition at the same event - would then face hosts Wasps in the grand final.

What followed was a nip-and-tuck encounter in which both sides threw everything at each other. Sadly, though, it was not to be for the Chiefs, who were denied at the death by a dubious touch judge call on Pete Laverick, who appeared to have claimed a match-winning score with the last action of the game.

In the end, Wasps triumphed 31-28 thanks in the main to tries from Guy Thompson, Frank Halai, Tom Howe, Christian Wade and Tom Cruse, although the response from the Chiefs was pretty emphatic with Max Bodilly claiming a hat-trick, alongside a further score from Sam Simmonds, who was named - for the second consecutive time - Player of the Day.

Afterwards, Pellow said: "Obviously we're disappointed to have come up just short at the end, but I'm massively proud of this group of players and what they have done throughout this tournament.

"If you look at the final itself, that was one hell of a game of sevens and it could have gone either way. It literally turned on every play of the ball and was a fantastic spectacle for everyone here and those watching on TV.

"Again we've made big strides as a club in terms of this tournament over the past 12 months and although we were on the wrong end of what I would say were a few tight calls, we'll use this as another great learning tool to come back even stronger next year."

Pellow highlighted the contribution of Sam Simmonds (pictured) once again, describing his tournament as "immense" but said many others had staked strong claims during the events in Exeter and Coventry.

"Sam Simmonds, I thought, has been immense in both rounds," continued Pellow. "He's been pushing hard for two years now and this is a big year for him where we want him to really kick on. For all these guys this is their first opportunity to impress the coaches in pre-season and I think he and a number of others have really done that."