Chiefs side to face Gloucester-Hartpury
By Harry Scott-Munro
10/12/21
Westcounty derby’s may be a relatively new prospect for Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach Steve Salvin, however, he is fully expecting his side to “bring an additional edge” when they take on Gloucester-Hartpury at Sandy Park tomorrow (12.30pm)
Last weekend, the Chiefs put in a “solid and professional performance” to dispatch Worcester Warriors 29-12 at Sixways and keep themselves in the top four.
Reflecting on that performance, Salvin explained that there had been a “few minor tweaks” to Exeter’s game in the week leading into the match, praising the performance of his side.
“We had a really good week building into Worcester," he said. "We tweaked a few things around the defence and the line-out but they weren’t wholesale changes. I thought the performance against Worcester was excellent. To be away from home, with a strange kick-off time and freezing cold conditions, and to win 29-12, it was a really solid and professional performance.”
Salvin has not been with the Chiefs for too long, having previously been Head Coach at Rotherham Titans, but the assistant coach sung the praises of the club, highlighting the ease at which he has been able to transition into the coaching group.
“I’ve settled in great, it was obviously a huge draw, that opportunity to work with Exeter," he added. "Looking from the outside, it’s always appeared to be a phenomenal place to work and certainly in the first few weeks that I’ve been here, that has proven to be the case.
“It’s been very welcoming and friendly, and the nice thing is to come into a relatively settled squad. The rest of the management team has also been pretty settled bar my position and we have a really good squad in place.”
Having observed the side in the build-up to the cup clash with Worcester at Sandy Park and the Loughborough Lightning clash in the league, Salvin explained how he had seen a “real positive” in the side that convinced him the squad will only continue to improve as the season goes on.
“I got a real good sense of the quality of the group from the Loughborough game. I thought we were really good, particularly in the first half. In the second half, we switched off a bit emotionally and allowed them to come back at us. But the really positive bit from my view was that although we didn’t play brilliantly in the second half, we only conceded seven points across the 80 minutes,” he noted. “That showed that there is a tremendous amount of fight in this group, and you’d always rather have a group that has fight in it. That was a real positive.”
Whilst the Chiefs have several players currently out with injuries, a number of players have stepped up to the mark and shone in their absence, with young centre Nancy McGillivray scoring her first try for the club in just her second Premier 15s appearance last weekend against Worcester.
Reflecting on how those players have stepped up to the mark, Salvin took the time to highlight how they had given the coaching team some food for thought in regards to long-term selections.
“Yes, we have a few missing but from our perspective that’s great as we can see the girls that are stepping in and giving themselves every opportunity to keep that shirt. It’s been an interesting few weeks but the majority of the Worcester performance was a real highlight.”
Ahead of this weekend’s clash with Gloucester-Hartpury, Salvin and Head Coach Susie Appleby have named an unchanged 23 from that victory over Worcester with Salvin challenging his side to be “really disciplined,” against a side that will be desperate to take a victory back from Sandy Park.
The Chiefs are unbeaten at Sandy Park this season and Salvin is keen to see that record continue.
“The intention is always to win any game you play, but obviously we want to back up that home record. Gloucester-Hartpury are a very good side. They’re very good around the line-out. They look to drive a lot, so we need to be really disciplined to try and take those opportunities away from them. Their record this season isn’t quite where they would want it to be, but they’ve had games that they will be disappointed not to have won when they probably deserved to. “
Tomorrow’s visitors beat the Chiefs on the final day at Sandy Park last season, to snatch a fifth-place finish away from the Devonians. That, coupled with the “additional bite” of a derby tussle has left Salvin expecting an “extra edge” from his side.
“A couple of the girls have been giving me the insight into it being a local derby. That brings with it an extra edge and an additional bite to it. One thing we’ve talked about this week is being able to constantly improve. We need to make sure we keep improving around our defensive shape and being able to defend aggressively.”
Despite being wary of the threat Gloucester-Hartpury pose to his side, Salvin was at pains to make sure the focus was still firmly on his side going into the encounter, as he challenged his players to continue to develop their game across the park.
“I talked about Gloucester-Hartpury’s driving game, but it’s an element of our game that we’re always aiming to improve as well. We’ve got some really significant threats in attack too, so if we can blend all of those things into an 80-minute performance, we give ourselves the best chance possible of maintaining that home record. But we know the size of the challenge this weekend.”
