Robinson delighted with Sale victory

By James Fowler
9/1/23

Exeter Chiefs Women’s scrum-half Flo Robinson said she was ‘really pleased to be going home with the five points’ after the Chiefs recorded a comprehensive 35-10 victory over the Sale Sharks in what were extremely tough conditions in Manchester.

The victory over the Sharks means the Chiefs still remain unbeaten since their loss to Gloucester-Hartpury in the opening round of this season’s Allianz Premier 15s in November, and they therefore remain in second place in the standings, six points clear of third-placed Harlequins.

There were five tries in total for the Chiefs, with Kate Zackary, Jodie Ounsley and Merryn Doidge all crossing the whitewash, along with two tries for the impressive American Prop Hope Rogers. Sale could only muster a first half try from Vicky Irwin, along with five points from the boot of Sarah Law.

Robinson was however keen to highlight how tough an encounter this was, especially considering the wet and wild conditions.

“It’s always a tough game coming up to Sale,” she said. “That was a tough game in the weather conditions especially, so really pleased to be going home with the five points.”

Robinson went onto emphasise how sticking to the basics was the key factor in last Sunday’s victory.

“It was just a case of sticking to our process really in that game, going to line-out and sticking to what we know, sticking to the basics and then you can get a foothold in the game, so I think we did that ok.

“There were times in the game where went away from that, and when things are going wrong because you’ve lost momentum because you’ve dropped a few balls it’s just about going back to the things we know really well and do a lot.”

With the wet conditions and heavy pitch, this was always going to be a game won or lost up front, and Robinson was full of praise for the way the pack fronted up.

“They were really good, they’re always really good. They make my job quite easy. On a day like this you want them to perform, and you want them to get you good go forward, because obviously you’re not going to be shipping it out wide a load when it’s raining, so yeah they were really good today.”

Despite recording their fifth consecutive victory, the game especially in the final quarter became at times very disjointed and scrappy, and Robinson therefore believes that there’s still learning points to be taken in order for the side to improve even further.

“I think it’s just a matter of us controlling the game, and when you have those dips in momentum how we control that to get back on top, so that’s a learning point for us for sure.”

Robinson spoke of her delight at having made her 50^th appearance for the club in the victory over Sale, becoming just the fourth Chiefs Women’s player to achieve that milestone.

“I really love this team and it’s really good to run out for 50 caps. Hopefully they’ll be a few more, but I’m really pleased.”