Chiefs Women to face Worcester Warriors
By James Fowler
3/12/22
Exeter Chiefs Women’s coach Steve Salvin says his side can ill afford to rest on their laurels ahead of tomorrow’s Allianz Premier 15s clash with the University of Worcester Warriors Women at Sandy Park (3pm)
Fresh from their 95-0 thumping of DMP Sharks in Round Two last weekend, the Chiefs know they will face a much tougher challenge from the Warriors, who have already triumphed in Devon this season, winning the Allianz Cup clash between the two 23-21 in September.
Asked about the threat they will pose to his side, Salvin said: “Threats the right word. They beat us last time they came down here – and we’re fully aware of the threats that they bring.
“It’s our second home league game of the season, we lost the first one which was disappointing, and we want to make sure we get some momentum from our home form, so hopefully we can get that this weekend, but as every game tends to be in this league it will be a challenge.”
Looking back on last weekend’s try fest up in Darlington, Salvin was certainly not getting carried away with that result, and although he was pleased with his side’s efforts, he was fully aware that greater challenges lie ahead.
“What we did see from sort of 20 minutes onwards was some really good attacking play, which was good to see, and we scored some really, really nice tries. As I said, going into the game against Darlington (DMP Sharks) we knew they would always front up for the full 80 – and they absolutely did that.
“We probably got from it what we wanted, but yeah obviously the size of the task builds up a good number of notches this weekend.”
With most of the Exeter Chiefs Women’s World Cup stars now having returned back to the squad, Salvin was keen to highlight how much the standard of training has increased since their return from New Zealand, and he believes this will very much reflect in the performance that goes out onto the field on match days.
“The standard of training has gone through the roof, and that’s only going to stand us in good stead for putting performances on the field,” he added.
“If you think back to the back-end of last season when we built momentum around winning 6,7, 8 games in a row, the thing that sticks in my mind about that period is the quality of training during that time. Having those girls come back in adding real value to what we’re doing, adding good numbers to what we’re doing, increasing the pressure we can put the girls under in terms of their skill level, it’s been a vast step up from where we’ve been.”
Exeter Chiefs Women’s captain Poppy Leitch is edging ever closer to her 50th appearance for the club and Salvin was full of praise for the player he describes as ‘the glue that holds us together’.
“I don’t think in my time here we’ve selected a team without her in it, so that probably gives you an insight into how highly we value her. Her fingerprints are on every aspect of our game be it set-piece, attack, defence, she knows the structure better than anyone else.
“It’s a bit like having a coach on the field, because she is a coach, she works up at Exeter University as a coach full-time, so her insight on the field is hugely valuable to us. We often refer to her quite a bit as the glue, she is the glue that holds us together and we hold her in really high esteem.”
The game against Worcester tomorrow also sees the return of talismanic USA international Kate Zackary, a player Salvin describes as both ‘box office’ and a ‘superstar’.
Salvin was however keen to point out the effect that both Zackary and Leitch have on the rest of the players in the squad, which he sees as their most vital asset.
“By seeing people like Poppy (Leitch) and Kate (Zackary) on the field they get an extra five to ten per cent out of everyone else, and that’s probably the biggest compliment you can pay them. To have them both available is hugely valuable for us”.
Salvin said that he ‘fully understands the size of the challenge’ that his side faces against the Worcester Warriors on Saturday and he was full of praise for the way in which this weekend’s visitors are coached.
“I think Steve (Halsey) is an excellent forwards coach, he did a really good job at Loughborough last year and he’s transferred that down to Worcester this year. Also, Jo Yapp has that team functioning really well, it looks like they’ve got absolute clarity around what they’re trying to do. We fully understand the size of the challenge this week.”
Salvin was however confident that with the return of key internationals, and with the quality that has been on show at training, that there won’t be a repeat of the defeat that his side suffered at the hands of the Warriors back in September.
“With the internationals coming back in and the quality they’ve brought to training, our training up to this point in the week is the best it’s been, so hopefully that will stand us in good stead to have a real good go this weekend.”
