Cup victory pleases Pellow
By Mark Stevens
10/11/18
Ricky Pellow hailed an ‘outstanding win’ for his Exeter Chiefs side as they maintained their position at the top of Pool One in this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup.
The Chiefs followed up last week’s home win over Bath by this time seeing off visiting Harlequins 29-13 in front of another bumper crowd at Sandy Park.
Although trailing to an early Marcus Smith penalty, the reigning Cup holders hit back strongly as the half progressed and by the break had already secured the all-important bonus point thanks to tries from Richard Capstick, Billy Keast, Tom O’Flaherty and Tom Lawday.
Smith countered with a second penalty to make it 22-6 at the turn, but when Joe Simmonds converted his own try just before the hour mark, the Chiefs were already well placed to see off the Londoners.
To their credit, Harlequins refused to throw in the towel and in a defiant late charge, they were rewarded with a converted try for replacement Dave Ward.However, it was nothing more than a consolation as they slipped to their second successive defeat in this competition.
Post-match, a delighted Pellow was quick to praise his side’s performance. He said: “I’m really pleased with the win. Over the three-game block, we’ve got stronger game by game and you can see the guys have developed and improved week by week.
“To finish this block of fixtures with that result, I think it shows just how hard hard the group have worked.I thought it was an outstanding win.”
Although Harlequins opened up strongly, they failed to turn their pressure into points and it was the Chiefs who cranked up the gears as the first half progressed. Capstick and Keast both claimed maiden tries for the Devon club, before the impressive O’Flaherty cut through the middle of the visitors defence to add a third try.
No.8 Lawday added a fourth on the stroke of half-time, before Simmonds got in on the act, rounding off a slick backs move.
“We were probably a bit guilty of trying to force a few things in the first 20 minutes, which didn’t allow us to get into our attacking game,” explained Pellow. “Once we got past that and relaxed a bit, we really started too put out game on Harlequins and that is where we got a lot of our points.
“I thought in the second half we got good control again, especially in the build-up to our try, and then for the last 20 minutes we were forced to defence for long phases of play. Some of that defending, especially from the likes of Dave Dennis and Josh Caulfield, was really good. Also, the impact from the guys who came off the bench really lifted us as well.
“The only thing we’re a little disappointed about is conceding that try right at the end, which will have an effect on the points difference within the group. Up until then, our defensive set-up was where we wanted it to be and that was another big positive for us.”
As well as the victory, the Chiefs will have been pleased to see the likes of Dennis, Mitch Lees and Alex Cuthbert all come through the game unscathed after recent injuries, but on the flip side the sight of both Jack Innard and James Freeman coming off early will be a cause for concern.
Pellow said it was too early to assess the extent of the injuries and that both players would be reviewed following the weekend.
Next up for the Chiefs is a return to Gallagher Premiership action next Sunday when they make the short trip to Bristol. Ironically, it’s the Bears who will provide the final opposition to Pellow’s side in their last qualification game in the Premiership Rugby Cup. That fixture, though, will not be played until the New Year.