Johnson's joy at victory over the Sharks
By James Fowler
5/2/23
Rachel Johnson spoke of her pride at her Exeter Chiefs team-mates after they maintained their hot streak in the Allianz Premier 15s with a comprehensive 61-0 victory over lowly DMP Sharks at Sandy Park.
Although not at their best against the league’s basement club, the Chiefs still went about their business sufficiently to run in nine tries, two of which were scored late on by the all-action American international.
In an error strewn first half, in which the Chiefs really struggled to find any sort of rhythm or fluency, Susie Appleby’s side could only muster two scores through hooker Clara Nielson and an exceptional solo effort from Red Roses star Claudia MacDonald.
Despite a stubborn defence from a DMP side who showed a huge amount of resolve for the full 80 minutes, the Chiefs did eventually manage to pull away in the second half, with a further seven tries being scored through Ebony Jefferies, Kate Zackary, Cliodhna Moloney, Nancy McGillivray, Gabby and Johnson (2).
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Johnson although clearly happy with securing yet another bonus point victory, was keen to make sure the side improves moving forward through the second half of the season.
“It was a little bit of a messy start, a lot of knock ons, a lot of back and forth, but we can always strive to get better and clean up the mistakes, but really proud of the girls today,” said Johnson, who said sticking to the game plan was the key factor in being able to gain full control against a tenacious DMP side.
“DMP improves every week and so they definitely came out here ready to play, put us under stress in the first half, but I feel like once we settled down a little bit and just stuck to our game, we were able to put on the points and get through the phases,” added Johnson.
The DMP Sharks have certainly seen a huge up turn in their performances since the arrival of five American internationals into their ranks last month, and Johnson spoke of her pride at the performance of her compatriots.
She added: “It’s always good to play against friends, so really proud of all the girls that have come over and just the girls of the entire DMP squad, so credit to them, but like I said really proud of the Chiefs today.”
The Chiefs will now have a week off before taking on the Worcester Warriors at Sixways in a couple of weeks’ time, and Johnson says that the break will be an ideal opportunity for some ‘rest and recovery time’ following what has been a hectic five-game block in which the Chiefs have swept all before them.
“Rest is important so we’ll definitely get some recovery time in,” said Johnson. “Like we said, a little bit scrappy today, we know that when we’re at our best we’re unstoppable, so we definitely need to clean up some of those details. I think a little bit of rest and recovery time will help us have a little bit of breathing room and then back to the training block so we can take on Worcester away.”
With the nine tries in the victory over DMP following the 14 touchdowns that were secured the week before against Wasps, it would be easy to get carried away by the incredible attack that the Chiefs are producing. However, Johnson was keen to highlight the quality of the side’s defence, with the Chiefs opposition for the third game in succession being kept pointless.
“We’ve proven that our defence is one of our biggest threats, both at home and away, so it’s something that we really strive to work for and we can definitely clean it up a little bit, but really proud of that zero.”
With another bumper crowd of just over 2,000, it is clear that the enthusiasm for this incredible Chiefs Women’s side and the women’s game as a whole is continuing to grow, and Johnson was keen to say a personal thank you to all the incredible supporters who keep getting behind the team so passionately.
“Sandy Park is the best place on earth maybe. I love a home game, I love Sandy Park, it’s great to have all the fans here, thank you guys so much, couldn’t do it without you guys.”