Match Reaction - Steve Salvin
By James Fowler
15/1/23
Exeter Chiefs Women’s Assistant Coach Steve Salvin outlined his delight following his side’s comprehensive 37-19 victory over reigning Allianz Premier 15s champions Saracens at Sandy Park.
The Chiefs produced an opening half-hour blitz which Saracens were simply unable to contend with, with tries being scored by Liv McGoverne, Flo Robinson, Maisy Allen, Kate Zackary and Hope Rogers in that period.
England Under-20s star Allen added a second score to her tally in the second half, before Gabby Cantorna ensured the job was finished off with a late penalty.
Reflecting on this statement victory, Salvin says that it was ‘the energy and effort’ shown by his players which pleased him the most.
“As good as the result is and the scoreline is, the thing that pleases me above anything else is the level of performance that we got,” said Salvin. “I thought the energy and effort that the girls showed right from the start of the game, right through to the end, was immense and I think that’s what won us the game.”
Despite there clearly being a large emotional element to the Chiefs performance, especially considering the loss in last season’s Premier 15s final to the same opponents, it was the ability to ‘execute strategy’ which Salvin believes was the most important factor in securing the victory.
“We’ve got a really talented bunch of players who are executing a strategy right on the money,” he added. “The thing that the girls were doing so well was just executing strategy all the way through, that aligned with just the sheer willingness to work hard is what’s got us the result today, so I’m just so happy for the girls today, they were absolutely immense.”
Ever the perfectionist, Salvin said despite this stunning victory, he believes ‘there’s still more to come’ from this young Chiefs side.
“I actually think there’s still more to come. There’re probably six or seven additional entries into the 22 where we didn’t come away with points, so when we review this on Monday, as much as there will be huge positives to take away, there will also be things we can work on and improve on,” continued Salvin. “It’s a bit of a privileged position to be in that where you can put a performance on like we have today and then still feel that you’ve got significant room for improvement is an exciting place to be.
“We’ve got Bristol next week which will be tough, and we need to make sure we prep as well as we have for this game this week, and if we do that we give ourselves a chance of getting a result next weekend.”
The foundations for this win over Saracens were laid by yet another dominant performance from the pack and Salvin was only too keen to sing their praises.
“The forwards were immense today. We felt 10 minutes before half time we were allowing them to get back into the game, they were starting to use their drive a little bit more, and that 10 minute period before half time they got a little bit of dominance there and we spoke at half time about how we could put that right, and I felt in the second half we showed a lot more steel in that area.
“I thought some of the performances at scrum time were really, really good. I thought the bench were excellent in terms of giving us that extra little bit of emphasise at scrum time, so I’m over the moon with the whole squad, not just the forwards, I think they should all be very proud of their performance today.”
The game also saw Australian international Lori Cramer make her first start in Chiefs colours, and Salvin was keen to praise her impact within the squad.
“Lori (Cramer) has come in this week and added real value. We’re in a massively fortunate position that the squad can rotate a little bit and we can give everyone an opportunity to play and the first two games after Christmas we got two excellent performances.
“I thought Lori was excellent today, she brings a different dimension with her kicking game which is exciting for us, but she likewise is a very big threat in attack when she gets ball in hand so we’re lucky to have her.”
A fantastic crowd of just over 2,000 were at Sandy Park to cheer on the Chiefs and Salvin outlined his gratitude for their support and for the impact they had on the players performance.
“It’s what makes today such a special memory. They get to share it with an absolutely unbelievably passionate crowd, so as I said the result is great, but it goes hand in hand with the fans turning up and giving us their voice which they absolutely did today, so just a big thank you to them because they gave the girls a huge boost going into the game.”