Appleby says team ready to create history
By Mark Stevens
21/6/23
Susie Appleby insists her Exeter Chiefs side are ready to make history and land the club a first-ever Allianz Premier 15s crown this Saturday (3:30pm).
Having suffered final heartache at the hands of Saracens last season, the Chiefs are ready to go one step further and secure the title against Westcountry rivals Gloucester-Hartpury.
Should they do that, it will ensure the Devonians of a historic league and cup double, having already secured the Allianz Cup gong back in April.
“History-making is kind of what we’ve been about from the off,” insists head coach Appleby. “Anything that we do around here is kind of a first – and the girls really embrace that, as do the staff.”
Over 4,000 packed into Sandy Park to see the Chiefs defeat the reigning champions in the semi-finals earlier this month. Now, Appleby is hoping another army of supporters make the short trek up the M5 this weekend to roar her side into battle.
Standing in the way of the Chiefs are Appleby’s former club, who having topped the standings after the regular season, then dispatched of Bristol Bears in the last four.
"It makes me really happy that the side that I got going however many years ago up there is doing really well," added Appleby. "I still know a lot of the players, a lot of the staff, Sean Lynn's a fantastic bloke and he's doing really well. But what makes me really happy is we're doing well, they're doing well, the top two teams are in the final and it doesn't always happen that way. This league is the best in the world.”
With a record crowd for the final set to descend on Kingsholm, which has been temporarily renamed this week for the showpiece event as ‘Queensholm’, Appleby and her players are relishing the match-up which, based on results this season, stands at one apiece in the head-to-head.
The Cherry & Whites inflicted Exeter’s only home loss in the league on the opening day, winning 25-17, but revenge was enacted on the final day of the regular season when the Chiefs travelled to the Alpas Arena and won 58-19.
Although Gloucester were without a number of their first-team regulars that day, Appleby’s squad were able to glean real confidence from the encounter.
"We still beat a good Gloucester side, a strong Gloucester side," she says. "We learned some things about their style of play, so it was a valuable experience, probably an important win for us. We only played them recently, but it doesn't really matter what's gone before, the main thing is the big focus on the final."