Chiefs Women to face Gloucester-Hartpury
By James Fowler
21/10/22
After their agonising loss in the final to Saracens at the end of the last campaign in June, and with the World Cup now over, the Exeter Chiefs Women finally return to Allianz Premier 15s action as they host Gloucester-Hartpury in the season open at Sandy Park tomorrow (3pm).
Exeter Chiefs Women’s Head Coach, Susie Appleby, said her side are ‘ready to go’ after what has been a very long pre-season, with the Allianz Cup Pool games also completed during that time.
“It’s been a long time, four and a half months effectively of pre-season with a few games thrown in. The girls have worked really, really hard, obviously recently with the huge excitement of the World Cup and it’s come and gone and we’re now eventually going to start. We’ve tried to almost reset and say this is the beginning, because if we don’t, it’s easy to just roll into this first game without emphasising the importance of it.”
Appleby spoke about how the players have been managed during what has been an unusual start to the season with the World Cup going on, and with so many breaks between matches.
“We’ve given the players the appropriate down time when they’ve needed and I think we’ve ramped it up when we’ve needed and there’s BUCS games been on, so girls have been off doing that,” added Appleby. “There’s been stuff going on, but we’ve always known that this week was the time it was going to happen, so now we’re full on.”
Speaking about the opposition coming up in the opening three rounds of the Allianz Premier 15s competition, Appleby stated that she believes that having already played those teams in the Allianz Cup will put the Chiefs ‘in a decent position’.
“I think also the luxury of having played Gloucester-Hartpury, Darlington Mowden Park and Worcester Warriors, who are first three games has got to put us in a decent position, same for them as opposition, but I think everyone’s just relived and excited to get going.”
Appleby was keen to talk about how well her young squad have performed during pre-season and the Allianz Cup Pool games, with the help of some more experienced players around them.
“The standouts have been our young U20s, the front row have been going really well, obviously bolstered by Cli Moloney coming in as an international and Clara (Nielson) both playing their part. In the back-row, Maisy (Allen) has been unbelievable, she’s a natural leader, she leads the U20s, and she’s transferring that onto the field now. Out in the centre field is Nancy (McGillivray) doing her stuff. She is probably the stand-out player, she certainly was in the (Allianz) Cup, so there’s a young group, but gluing all together is always Poppy (Leitch).
Appleby also spoke about the players who haven’t played for the Chiefs so far this season, who are going to play in the league opener this weekend.
“Jodie Ounsley is going to get her first run out for us having come down from Sale, she’s a wonderful person and player. Mairi McDonald has joined us very recently from up in Scotland, and you have to mention Abbie Fleming who has been at the World Cup but who hasn’t played very much so she is raring to go.”
Appleby was keen to emphasise how important the home Sandy Park support are to her side, and she also spoke about how she believes the success of the World Cup will boost the profile of the women’s game even further.
“I spoke to the supporters’ club last night and they are genuinely our super fans, they’re here two hours before kick-off, they can’t get enough of it, they’re telling their friends and their friends are coming along, and families, and that’s what we want is this family day and family atmosphere and they’re very much bringing it.
“They are so enthusiastic, and they bring the noise and the noise in those stands boosts the players on the field and they feel it. It’s all growing as we wanted it to grow. We had 4,000 in for that game against Worcester, definitely a 1,000 I think coming in on Saturday and on the back of the World Cup the game is growing and it’s growing locally, it’s growing nationally and it’s growing worldwide and that’s what we want.”
With regards to tomorrow’s opponents Gloucester-Hartpury, Appleby was full of praise for the Cherry & Whites’ ‘all court game’, as well as their coaching team. Appleby also spoke about how close the encounters have tended to be between these two sides.
“They bring a really powerful game and the competition up front is going to be huge, but also they’ve got a really nice set of backs, they play smart, Mo Hunt is back in and playing well, they’ve got a good kicking game, Emma Sing at the back is a wonderful runner with the ball, Ellie Underwood was the top try scorer last season, so they have an all court game, as have we.
“We’ve had some contests haven’t we, last year we won one lost one each, at our home grounds which is interesting, this season (in the Allianz Cup) we just scraped the win in the dying minutes, but they came out on top as leading the group. But they’re a really, really good side and they’re also really well coached by Sean Lynn and his group, and they’re really nice, so it’s always a nice fixture to play in.
“We treat every opposition with respect, and we’re excited about getting our first proper run out of the season and then we’ll move forward.”
