Pellow disappointed after semi-final loss
By Mark Stevens
2/2/20
Ricky Pellow admitted it had been a ‘tough day at the office’ for his Exeter Chiefs side as they saw their hopes of booking a place in this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup Final ended by visiting Harlequins.
The Londoners returned to the capital toasting a rare away-day victory at Sandy Park thanks to tries from Alex Dombrandt (2), Gabriel Ibitoye (2), Glen Young, Ross Chisholm and Marcus Smith, who also kicked four conversions and two penalties to seal their success.
The Chiefs countered with scores of their own from skipper Sam Skinner, James Short and two from Tom Price on his debut for the Devon club, but it was scant reward on an afternoon where they were outgunned by their more experienced rivals.
Although trailing 18-5 at the break, the Chiefs had shown more than enough during the first 40 minutes to give them confidence heading into the second period. Price’s first score got them back to within touching distance soon after the restart, but that was as good as it got for the home side, who were eventually floored by a powerful last quarter from Paul Gustard’s side.
“Obviously, it’s a disappointing result,” said Pellow. “We said at half time that we weren’t quite where we wanted to be, but said if we could score next, that would put them under a bit of pressure. We did that; we fought really hard; but it was just those little moments in the game where we weren’t quite clinical enough.
“Straight from the kick-off, we tried to run exit, something we don’t normally do, and all of a sudden that put us under pressure and they scored almost immediately. From that point, the momentum of the whole match kind of swung their way.
“Yes, it’s going to hurt the way we kind of folded after that, but this is largely a young group of players, lots of whom will learn a lot from today’s game.I guess for those guys, today shows what having that little bit more experience and that little bit more know-how, especially in a game like that, can do for you when it comes to dealing with those pressure moments.
“The big thing for them moving forward is that we take the learns from today and use them, not just next week, but the week after and the week after that, use that to develop their game and become a better player for that.”
With the Chiefs still top of the Gallagher Premiership, plus a home quarter-final in the Heineken Champions Cup against Northampton Saints to look forward to in April, Pellow insists the overall seasonal vibe amongst the group remains strong moving forward.
“It’s frustrating, but I wouldn’t say it affects how we are in terms of our overall season,” he continued. “Today is a tough day at the office, which we’ll take on the chin, but we’ll regroup in a few days’ time and we’ll look to go again.
“What today’s result means is we’ll change our focus back to the Premiership, then into Europe when it comes around, and also we’ve also got the A League to contend with as well. It means everyone will get their chance to put their hands up and try and force their way into selection for those big games.”
Certainly, a number of the club’s highly-rated youngsters outlined their blossoming pedigree, much to the delight of Skills Coach Pellow.
“Games like today are a massive part of their development,” continued Pellow. “It was also a massive opportunity for them to stand up, against a very good side, and show the qualities that we look for. I think once we go back through the game and look at it again in more detail, there will be some players out there that really stood up and showed what they are all about.
“There will be others who will perhaps feel they’ve missed an opportunity out there today. That’s part of rugby, and it’s also part of their development, but I’ve no doubt they will learn from that. A big part of our philosophy here at the club is to use games like this to help develop players, but also we also want to be in finals. We want to be competing for things and we want to be at top end of the game and we’ve missed a big opportunity here today.”
The Chiefs are next in action on Friday, February 14 when they travel to rivals Gloucester in Round 10 of the Premiership (7:45pm).