Chiefs Women to face Bristol Bears
By Mark Stevens
21/4/23
Susie Appleby has told her Exeter Chiefs Women’s side to ‘seize the moment’ as they return to action this Sunday with a mouth-watering Allianz Cup semi-final encounter with Bristol Bears at Shaftesbury Avenue (3pm).
Having picked up the inaugural Allianz Cup last season with victory over Harlequins, the Chiefs have made no secret of the fact that they want to replicate their achievement again this season. However, the Bears themselves harbour their own hopes of silverware and they would love nothing better than to throw a spanner in the works of their near neighbours.
Appleby’s side have been in imperious form so far this season, advancing not only to the last four of the Cup, but they also sit top of the pile in the Allianz Premier 15s, having pocketed 13 consecutive bonus point wins.
However, the Chiefs have been inactive since March 12, when they defeated Sale Sharks 52-14, and now Appleby is looking for her charges to pick up from where they left off.
International commitments mean she is without a glut of frontline talent for the short trek up the M5 this weekend, but she insists the fixture offers a number of her up-and-coming young guns the chance to shine on the big stage.
“It seems ages ago since we last played in the Cup - and we’ve not been on the field for several weeks, so the girls are desperate to get back out there,” she said. “Training is one thing, but nothing beats playing matches. I think for all of us, we can’t wait to get back out there and it starts again this weekend.”
With rivals Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens meeting in the other semi-final, Appleby knows the defence of their Cup crown will be tough and she is expecting a huge battle against the Bears.
“Continuity is everything,” she said. “Up until the break, we had put in a huge seven-week block that allowed us to gain some real momentum. Since then, we’ve had the Six Nations and Pacific Four Series, so we’re without a few but, we’ll have a different group on Sunday, not too dissimilar to what we had at the start of the season, and it’s up to this group to make the most of their opportunity.
“Players like Flo Robinson and Nancy McGillivray have grown and grown this season. Nancy has just come back from England 20s with Maisy Allen. Others like Sophie Langford and Danielle Preece, they’ve not had a huge amount of game time with us, but they’ve been out with loan clubs and really developed.
“At the same time, we’ve still got that good mix of experience in the side as well. Poppy [Leitch] is the glue in the pack. Others like Ebony Jefferies, Linde van der Velden, Liv McGoverne, they are all raring to go. What we have to do, however, is use this as the launchpad for the latter stages of the season.
“I want us to seize the moment and pick up from where we left off. The reason we are top of the table in the league is largely down to how we hit the ground running at the start of the season. Now, we’ve got to do the same again for this last bit of the season.
“The message I’ve said to the girls is pretty simple really, it’s ‘go out and play’ and ‘don’t play inside yourselves, it’s now or never’.”
As Appleby rightly warned, the Bears will be no pushovers and she has challenged her players to rise to the occasion.
“The Cup is about giving players an opportunity and of course we would love to retain it,” added Appleby. “The biggest thing, however, is I want us to go out and put in a big Chiefs performance. I want us to get things rolling again because it’s going to be a huge end to the season and we need to be ready for that!”
