Pellow hails his Braves
By Mark Stevens
19/12/17
Ricky Pellow hailed his Exeter Braves side after they notched up their sixth successive victory in this season's Aviva A League with a 62-0 win away to Gloucester United.
In a dominant display from the Southern Group leaders, the Braves produced a near faultless performance, running in tries through Moray Low, Sal M’Boge, Elvis Taione (2), Ed Holmes, Harrison Cully, James McRae and Joe Simmonds, who finished the contest with a personal points haul of 22 points.
The Cherry & Whites simply had no answer to the power, pace and physicality of the Braves, who no doubt would have added to their tally had referee Dan Parrott not blown up just past the hour mark after dense fog made conditions at Royal Wootton Bassett RFC virtually unplayable.
In the time the Braves were on the field, however, they ruled the roost in every department and have watching Director of Rugby Rob Baxter plenty to ponder ahead of this weekend's return to Aviva Premiership action away to Northampton Saints.
"In what were very tough conditions, I thought that was a very professional performance from our guys," said Pellow. "To come away to a tricky ground and put in a performance like we did, it's very, very pleasing.
"We talked before the game about laying down markers and looking to build on what we had done in the competition earlier in the season. To be fair to the guys, they have come here and delivered on all fronts - and what really pleased me was that they didn't let off in terms of standards at any stage.
"As coaches, we could not have asked for any more from any of the guys. The senior players, the likes of Julian Salvi, Moray Low, Ollie Atkins and Jack Maunder really led from the front and set the tone early on, and alongside them Joe Simmonds was again very impressive - especially with his kicking - and so too was Harry Strong in the centre.
"To be honest, though, it's hard to single certain players out in what was an outstanding team performance on the night."
With the A League set to resume early in the New Year, Pellow insists it is essential his team reset themselves for the next phase of the competition, where they will be looking to extend their unbeaten run and put themselves in pole position for qualification into the semi-finals.
"This first block of fixtures has gone very well for us and we've put ourselves in a fantastic position," added Pellow. "We know the kind of challenges we are going to face in the next stage, but the players have set a standard now and that's something we have to keep going moving forward. The target for us has to be to get that home semi-final and after that we'll see where we get to."
