Match Reaction - Steve Salvin

By Mark Stevens
24/9/22

Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach Steve Salvin said questions would be ask in the wake of his side’s narrow Allianz Cup loss at home to Worcester Warriors.

The reigning Cup holders were undone right at the death as Worcester claimed a last-gasp success thanks to a converted El Febrey try.

All had looked good for the Chiefs for much of the contest, leading 14-8 at the turn thanks to converted scores from Maisy Allen and Poppy Leitch, then extending that advantage further in the second half when Charlie Willett crashed over from close range.

The Warriors, though, refused to lie down and having claimed a first half score through Vicky Laflin, they stunned their hosts with second half touchdowns from Charlotte Wright-Haley and Febrey to secure a 23-21 victory.

Post-game, Salvin underlined the disappointment within the home camp, saying: “We immensely disappointed as a group We summed it up at half time, when we had the ball, we didn’t hold onto it - and when we didn’t have it, we gave away penalties, which in any game is a recipe for disaster. If I’m being honest, second half I actually thought we got worse in those two areas and it was like contagious amongst our girls.

“That said, you have to congratulate Worcester, they fully deserved their win in the end - and I hope they enjoy it tonight. You couldn’t question their fight, because they showed a lot of heart and effort. For us, we’ve got some serious question to ask because we didn’t show that same resolve.

“Looking at the game, we know the areas which hurt us. It wasn’t like they changed a great deal, we just continued to compound the areas that we were struggling in. As a side we never really got control of the game and the mistakes just kept coming.”

With a few weeks until the next Cup encounter away to Gloucester-Hartpury, Salvin says the group will review the performance and look for answers in a way to come back fighting next time out.

“It’s disappointing, but it’s not the end of the world,” he added. “We’ll review this thoroughly and take away the learns from the performance, after which we’ll look to out it right against Gloucester. Right now, there is a lot of emotion and it’s all a bit raw, but we’ll see where the issues are and we’ll address them.”

Salvin also offered an apology to the 4,000-strong crowd who packed into Sandy Park for the game. He continued: “I think we owe the fans’ a bit of an apology. The level of performance wasn’t acceptable and it’s not how you want to perform in front of your own supporters. It’s a tough lesson, not just for the young players, but also the seniors ones as well. We had international players out on the field today and we just didn’t perform.”