Chiefs looking to learn from Sarries loss

By Harry Scott-Munro
22/3/21

Exeter Chiefs Women’s captain Linde van der Velden admitted her side “lost momentum” as reigning Allianz Premier 15s champions Saracens avenged their defeat at Sandy Park earlier in the season, securing a 34-21 comeback victory at StoneX Stadium on Saturday.

A slow start for the Chiefs saw them trail 10-0 early on, before Susie Appleby’s side rallied to take a 21-10 lead at the break, following converted scores from Sachiko Kato and Rachel Johnson (2).

However, it was Saracens who controlled the second-half and swung the game in their favour, the Londoners bagging three tries without reply after the break.

“I don’t think we started too well, but I think the rest of the first half was pretty good,” said van der Velden, who was back in the Chiefs line-up following a recent shoulder injury. “We came back, got good momentum, and scored some brilliant tries, which was really good. In the second half, we lost that momentum and just couldn’t get back into it.”

Van der Velden was at pains to praise the hosts though, as they showed why they are one of the best sides in the league with a clinical second half display.

“Fair play to Saracens, they played really well and had a good comeback which we just couldn’t stop,” she added. “It was unfortunate as I think we still had some opportunities that we just couldn’t exploit. We’re just going to learn from this and move on.”

Looking at the second half performance and the wider context of what the result means for her side’s potential hopes of a play-off place, van der Velden admitted that the game would remain “a learning point” as her side continue to impress in their debut season in the Premier 15s.

She continued: “In the second half, they came out firing at us. Sometimes we gave away some unnecessary penalties. It’s unfortunate as I feel we deserved at least a bonus-point today and we didn’t get one or two. We’ve just got to move on and focus on next week.”

The frustration at a potential result away at Saracens slipping through her side’s fingertips was obvious at full-time, although van der Velden admitted that that frustration showed just how much heart her side had shown.

“The girls are obviously disappointed because this was a game we needed to win, but that’s also good as it shows we really care. We just need to learn from this next week against Loughborough and move on.”

Next week sees Exeter Chiefs entertain Loughborough Lightning in another crunch fixture at Sandy Park and van der Velden is optimistic her side can learn from the defeat and take their opportunities.

“Last time against Loughborough was a really fun game, really tight and there are definitely opportunities there. In the Premiership, there are a lot of opportunities. So, we’ll go home, recover, analyse this and hopefully we’ll get a win next week.”