Match Reaction - Steve Salvin

By Mark Stevens
15/5/23

Steve Salvin praised the fighting spirit of the Exeter Chiefs Women as they claimed two losing bonus points in their Allianz Premier 15s defeat to Saracens.

Maisy Allen’s last-gasp try was not only Exeter’s fourth of the contest against the defending champions but, more importantly, it hauled the Chiefs back to within seven points in a hard-fought encounter at the StoneX Stadium.

It marked only a second defeat of the season for the Chiefs in the Premier 15s this season, but they remain firmly on course for a home semi-final despite the 29-22 setback in the capital.

“There was more good than bad,” said Salvin in his post-game assessment. “Two points here is never the end of the world. Obviously, it would have been nice to get a win, but it was fairly obvious early on that getting a win would be tough. When they scored twice early in the second half, had you offered me two points at that point, I would have bitten your hand off.

“As I said, to come back and get two points at the champions, especially when we haven’t played well, I think the girls deserve a lot of credit.”

On what was a tough afternoon for the Devonians, the loss of Irish lock Nichola Fryday to a broken nose in the warm-up, then Ebony Jefferies to a head knock early in the first half, did little to aid their cause against the Londoners.

“It felt like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” added Salvin. “We’ve had a bit of a week of it really, but you get that and you have to move on and adapt quickly. If I’m honest, games like today are a lot more valuable than the big five-point wins we’ve had in other games.

“Seeing how the girls cope with adversity and testing themselves against a fully-loaded Sarries side, that’s going to be a lot more beneficial to us down the line. Right now, we’ll take the points and we’ll move on because there is a lot of serious rugby still be to be played.”

Indeed, the games are going to come thick and fast for the Chiefs Women, who this Saturday travel to fellow play-off rivals Bristol Bears.

“Our last two games have been against Saracens and Bristol so we’ve a fair idea of what’s coming from those teams,” said Salvin. “My view of Bristol is they are probably the best attacking side in the league, so we’re going to have be on point defensively against them. Today we had a few creaks, which we will need to look at, but the main thing now is to go back, nurse a few sore bodies and get ourselves ready to go again next weekend.”