Chiefs Women to face Wasps
By James Fowler
27/1/23
Exeter Chiefs Women’s Assistant Coach Steve Salvin says that despite his side’s terrific run of form, which has now seen them win seven Allianz Premier 15s games on the bounce, he still believes ‘there’s room for improvement’ as the Chiefs move onto facing winless Wasps in in London tomorrow. (1.30pm).
The Chiefs have been thoroughly ruthless since their loss to Gloucester-Hartpury in the opening round of the Allianz Premier 15s league in November, with maximum points being secured in every match since that defeat.
Reflecting on the 41-0 victory over Bristol Bears last weekend, Salvin stated that although he was pleased with the result, he feels that the standard of performance was not quite at the same high level that was produced in the victory over Saracens the week before.
“Really happy to back up the Saracens performance with another bonus point win, but we actually didn’t feel our performance level was quite as high as it was the previous week against Saracens,” he said. “That said, to get a 41-0 win at home again in front of a really good crowd was a really pleasing day, so everyone associated with the club was really happy.”
Tries have not been too hard to come by so far this season for the Chiefs, with 57 in total being scored in just eight league games, however what pleased Salvin especially about the victory over Bristol was the fact that they kept the Bears scoreless.
“Bristol are amongst the best attacking teams in the competition, particularly in those outside channels, they’re really, really threatening and we were very conscious of that going into the game,” added Salvin. “To keep them to zero is a nice representation of where we think our defence is, but I think we probably defended equally as well the previous week against Saracens and we did concede a couple of tries.
“It’s always nice to keep the opposition to zero, but it’s not always the best guide for exactly how we performed, but we are pleased with where we are defensively, but the exciting bit is we still think there’s room for improvement.”
With Wasps really struggling for form so far this season, Salvin and Head Coach Susie Appleby have decided to change the side up, with some players getting the chance of a rare start and others making positional moves within the team.
Ahead of kick-off, Salvin outlined the rationale for some of these decisions, stating: “Well it’s January, and obviously the end of the season is in June, so we’re still five/six months from the end of the season. Now with that in mind and the fact that we’ve got probably half the squad that have already played at a World Cup this season, we need to make sure we keep people fresh, we need to make sure we give people opportunities, so we need to make sure that the competition amongst the squad is high, which it obviously is.
“We’ve got real depth in the squad and we need to make sure everybody’s fully engaged and that means everybody needs an opportunity to play. It’s not a reflection on performance, or who we’re playing, it’s a case of doing what’s best for the squad and this week we feel there’s an opportunity to give four or five players a start that hasn’t had one over the last couple of weeks.”
One of the most notable changes in the team sheet for tomorrow’s clash is that Red Roses star, Claudia MacDonald, who has been so impressive for both club and country this season playing on the wing, will start at scrum-half in place of Flo Robinson.
“We signed her as a nine first and foremost, but obviously she went to the World Cup and she really shone on the wing and she’s shown her class in that position since she’s been with us, but as I said we do know that we did sign her as a nine, so we want to see her in that position,” explained Salvin. “Now, whether that’s where she plays longer term, or she moves back onto the wing, only time will tell. However, if you can deliver a level of performance at nine that she has been doing on the wing, then we’ll be really pleased.
“I think there’s four or five players this week that are still in the team that have actually changed positions, so it just shows the versatility of a number of our players as well which is exciting.”
Looking ahead to the challenges that Wasps will pose, Salvin believes that his side will need to gain a ‘foothold up front’ if they are to come out successful from this encounter.
“They’re certainly a threat up front. Their game against Harlequins the other week was a hugely dominant scrum performance from Wasps, so we know they’re going to be a real challenge in that area.
“It’s a heavy pitch down at Acton, so at times it’s difficult to get traction with the floor when you’re scrummaging, so we know that’s going to be a real big challenge and an area of the game we feel that we’ve got to get right. To be fair, that’s the same most weeks, we know if we can get a foothold in the game up front, we give ourselves a chance of getting a result. We’re expecting a real challenge when we go up there with the expectation that if we’re going to get something from it, we need to be right on it.”
