Match Reaction - Steve Salvin
By James Fowler
5/2/23
Exeter Chiefs Women’s Assistant Coach Steve Salvin spoke of his pride at his side coming through a stern examination of their Allianz Premier 15s title credentials against Harlequins in Big Game 14 at Twickenham.
Over 15,000 people watched the Chiefs storm to a comprehensive eight try victory over the Londoners, with ‘Captain America’ Kate Zackary and Red Roses star Claudia MacDonald each bagging a brace, alongside further tries for Maisy Allen, Rachel Johnson, Ebony Jefferies and Nancy McGillivray, to secure a 12th consecutive bonus point victory for the Devonians.
Reflecting on the victory at the home of English rugby, Salvin reflected on the ‘extra stress’ that was created in taking part in the showpiece event.
“It does create a bit of extra stress coming down here playing at Twickenham and I’m sure everyone felt that a little bit going into the game, but we scored 50 points,” he said. “We’ve got to enjoy this moment now because there were some tough moments in that game today and Quins put us under some real pressure, so as I said to come through as we have the girls should be enjoying themselves now.”
There can be no doubting that Harlequins played their part in what was a fantastic game of rugby and a wonderful advert for the women’s game, with the home side breaching what has been a hugely dominant Chiefs defence on three occasions. Salvin said however that he was not going to get ‘too stressed’ about the defensive lapses.
“We were disappointed with our defensive performance, but you’ve got to keep these things in context,” he added. “I think we’ve conceded 10 points in the past five games, so to some degree I can understand us having a couple of lapses and I’m not going to get too stressed about it because 99% of the time they put in a phenomenal defensive performance.
“There’s things we can work on this week, but the thing I want to do at the moment is just enjoy the result.”
Big occasions such as the one at Twickenham on Saturday are made for big game players, and MacDonald and Zackary certainly showed they are just that with exceptional individual performances, and Salvin spoke of how delighted he was that his players were able to showcase just how good they are on such a big stage.
“They (MacDonald & Zackary) are brilliant players both sides of the ball. I think what was great to see particularly with it being on TV was the likes of Kate (Zackary), the likes of Claud (MacDonald) got opportunities to show what unbelievable attacking players they are and they absolutely did that.”
McGillivray celebrated her call up to the England Women’s Six Nations Squad with a try from remarkably her first touch of the game following her introduction into the match from the bench in the 72nd minute, which Salvin described as a ‘genius substitution’ from Head Coach Susie Appleby.
“We’re really fortunate to have someone of Nancy’s calibre who at the moment is coming off the bench for us. She’s a massive part of this club’s future and she’s got a massive future in the game at international level as well, so it was great to see her get over for a try.”
Salvin was also keen to emphasise what a privilege it is to coach this incredible Chiefs women’s squad, whom he praised for their incredible levels of professionalism and dedication, despite the fact that many of the players have other jobs outside of rugby.
“It’s a privilege to coach them because the majority of them have work outside of their commitment to rugby but the time they put into their rugby and the level of professionalism they show is quite inspiring. So for them to get an opportunity to play down here today I’m sure will be a memorable day for them and to come away with a good win is an added bonus.”
The domestic game will take a break following this Sunday’s encounter with the Sale Sharks back in the home comforts of Sandy Park, and Salvin spoke of how keen he is to make sure the Chiefs finish this latest block of matches at the top of the Premier 15s table.
“We had a real tough game at Sale beginning of January time. They had a 10 point game with Quins last weekend and you’ve seen the problems that Quins have given us today so we’re expecting something similar to today. So, it’ll be a big game and hopefully we can end the block with another win.”