Match Reaction - Susie Appleby
By James Fowler
18/2/23
Exeter Chiefs Women’s Head Coach Susie Appleby said she was ‘delighted’ with her side’s comprehensive 57-5 victory over Worcester Warriors as they moved to the top of the Allianz Premier 15s table.
In what was another polished performance from the Devonians at Sixways, Appleby’s side ran in eight tries with England international Claudia MacDonald leading the way with a hat-trick of tries.
Hot on the heels of MacDonald, however, was free-scoring American prop Hope Rogers, who helped herself to a brace, while there were further touchdowns for Ebony Jefferies, Cliodhna Moloney and Maisy Allen.
Although delighted with another five-point haul – their 10th consecutive bonus point win in the league – Appleby still felt there was plenty for her side to work on moving forward.
“I’m delighted with the win, we knew that Worcester were a good side and they pressurised us very very well and forced us to make errors,” she said. “That, combined with our line-out not really functioning in the first half, meant we just kept putting ourselves under pressure. In the same token, we took some really good opportunities in that first half when we had ball in hand, so overall I’m pleased, but there’s always lots to work on.”
There were again some outstanding individual performances within the fantastic team display, and Appleby was only too keen to praise the efforts of her players.
“When you get someone like Hope Rogers on the ball she’s unreal. Her impact in a game is second to none. Alongside her, you bring in Rachel Johnson and suddenly we’re on the front foot. Nichola Fryday is another one who had an outstanding game.
“We’ve got some amazing warriors up front and then couple that with some great players in behind, Gabby (Cantorna) was good today at 12, Liv (McGoverne) was commanding the game well and obviously Claudia (MacDonald) scoring a hat-trick kind of says what our statement of intent is to play.”
Appleby unsurprisingly was delighted with the performance of MacDonald and she spoke about the positive impact the England international has made since her arrival to the Chiefs at the end of last year.
“She came into play at Loughborough away, so a whole half a season ago. She’s finding her feet, England have decided she is a winger, but she’s just a phenomenal athlete and she really is impacting the game now and learning how we play. I’m really pleased for Claud.”
There was also a welcome returning to the starting line-up for Allen following a short stint out injured and Appleby spoke of her delight at seeing the England Under-20s star make a try-scoring return.
“Maisy’s awesome. She’s a massive member of the squad. What she does on the field and off the field, she’s just the consummate professional, so really pleased to have Maisy (Allen) back. I didn’t want to overrun her, so I took her off for a little bit, she won’t be happy with that, but we need to make sure we look after our players.”
USA Eagles captain Kate Zackary made her 50th appearance for the Chiefs in the victory over Worcester and Appleby unsurprisingly described the versatile American nicknamed ‘Captain America’ as an ‘exceptional player’.
“Kate (Zackary) is an exceptional player no matter where you put her,” she said. “She’s a phenomenal athlete, she really does understand the game well and brings out the best in others, not just herself. I love Kate she’s been here from the off. Three seasons now and thoroughly deserves her 50th cap.”
The Chiefs will continue this latest block of games with a home match at Sandy Park against Loughborough Lightning next Saturday, and Appleby believes her side will need to prepare well if they’re going to continue their remarkable winning run.
“We need to get better, we definitely need to fix some fix ups after today, but at the same time there’s a lot of positivity to take into the next three performances,” added Appleby. “They’re going to be tough you know, they’re all very tough opposition, so we’ll look at ourselves and then we’ll look at Lightning as we do every single week, and we’ll prep well and it’ll be who are we going to select next week because everyone’s competing for the shirts and they’re all playing really well putting their hands up.”
It is no secret that there is enormous competition for places amongst this exceptionally talented Chiefs Women’s squad and Appleby reflected on how difficult it is to pick a side with the talent available to her.
“It’s incredibly competitive, Linde (Van Der Velden) is back now, Linde’s been away for a little bit but she’s back involved and I’m looking forward to getting her back in the squad as well, but how I’m not quite sure yet.”