Match Reaction - Ali Hepher
By Mark Stevens
2/10/22
Disappointed Exeter Chiefs head coach Ali Hepher hopes lessons will be learnt in the wake of his side’s 28-20 loss to Sale Sharks in the Gallagher Premiership.
It marked a first loss of the season for the Devonians, who despite putting in a physical shift at the Salford Stadium, ended up returning home with nothing to show for their on-field efforts.
With the two sides locked at 10-10 at the break, it was the Sharks who edged the second half, claiming victory with a late Tom Carpenter try and penalty from Robert du Preez.
The Chiefs, who had earlier scored tries through Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Maunder, alongside ten points from the boot of Henry Slade, had their chances, but it was their failure to convert territory and possession onto the scoreboard which came back to bite them.
“You have to give credit to Sale, they came us physically and they had a plan which they stuck at,” said Hepher at the final whistle. “They are a tough side and you always know you have to be on your game to handle them. Fair play to them, they put out a game plan that managed to disrupt us and in the end we gave ourselves too much to do in the end.”
In what was a bruising encounter in the North West, one in which the Chiefs lost Jack Dunne, Dafydd Jenkins and Stu Townsend all to injury during the opening 40 minutes, Hepher was left to bemoan missed opportunities from his team come the end.
“It is frustrating, just because we did create opportunities,” he added. “We’ve put a couple of balls down, we’ve lost the ball at the breakdown a few times, but that’s also down to the pressure they put on us. We’ll look at that next week and put in place things that hopefully mean we avoid those issues moving forward.
“That said, the guys stuck at it and they worked hard. We’re disappointed not to have anything from the game, but some of that is down to them - and some of that is down to us not taking our chances. What we have to do now is come in on Monday, review this game in full, talk things through and then look to get our heads ready for Bristol next week.
“Again, that’s another big game for us, so we’re excited about that. The big games, though, come thick and fast every week in the Premiership, so we have to move on quickly and look to get ourselves back on track.”