By Jack Sanderson
Exeter Chiefs prepare to host Harlequins on Saturday for a much anticipated clash in the Women’s Premiership for round 12 of the season. With the Chiefs sat in first and coming into this game after a dominant 64-5 win over Sale Sharks on the 11th of February, they will be confident of another win this weekend against a Harlequins side who are sat in sixth and come into this game after a tough 29-24 loss against Saracens earlier on in the month.
The Chiefs are on an inconsistent run of form at the moment, winning three of their last five games, but losing twice to Saracens and most recently Bristol, in a disappointing 22-12 loss. The Chiefs currently sit 11 points behind league leaders Gloucester-Hartpury, and seven points behind second placed Saracens. Despite this gap to the runaway leaders, Chiefs head coach Susie Appleby is optimistic about her side’s season so far.
“We’re pretty happy with where we’re at, disappointed with our trip to Bristol where we didn’t come away with anything, and picking up points everywhere we go is pretty crucial so that was a little bit of a setback but prior to that we put ourselves in a pretty decent position in the league.
“Obviously three games are coming which are really important to see where we are before the Six Nations break and then that push for the playoffs really. So yeah, in three games time we’ll have a really good feel for what things are looking like.”
With a massive 64-5 win over Sale Sharks towards the start of February, the Chiefs will feel confident going into this weekend’s game of carrying that form on to their match-up against Harlequins. However, despite such a dominant performance against the Manchester opposition, the Sharks are definitely struggling for form this season, having not won since late November last year. Susie Appleby weighed in on how her side can take that performance into this weekend’s game.
“Sale are struggling a bit, so it’s hard to compare performances week to week, but we were much improved, our execution in the red-zone if you like, our attacking the try-line if you like was very much improved which is a real positive for us.
“Still making some silly mistakes, sometimes when you’ve got a big scoreline a little bit of inattention to detail slips in, so that’s been a big thing we’ve worked on, can we keep that attention to detail in every game, no matter who’s in front of us, for the whole 80 minutes.
“That’s the challenge really, and also when those changes come onto the pitch, because the game is never won, especially in big games like this weekend, with 15 players, it’s won with the full squad of 23, and it’s about how consistent you can be throughout the whole 80 minutes.”
Harlequins come into this weekend’s game in a bit of a poor run of form, having only won twice since the turn of the year, and sitting in sixth in the table, 18 points behind the Chiefs. Despite this poor run of form, and a slightly disappointing position in the table, the Chiefs will be prepared for an almighty clash this weekend, with Susie Appleby expecting a tough task for her side at Sandy Park on Saturday.
“They’ve been much improved, they struggled at the start of the season, just in terms of missing a few key players, especially in their back row, Lucy Packer was missing who’s a key one for them at the 9, but the majority of those players are back.
“They’ve put a couple of really good performances together, although they didn’t beat Saracens they gave them a really good run for their money and went home with two points so as I said there’s a big game ahead leading up to Gloucester, but we don’t lose sight of the Quins who are coming to town.
“They’ve got great carriers, they’re very physical, they’ve got great half-backs and very very quick outside back three so it’s going to be a good game I hope, and I’m just hoping the conditions are going to be a bit better than they have been at the moment.”
The Chiefs have an incredible record against their opponents for this weekend, having not lost against them since the 24th of October 2020, with the Chiefs winning all six meetings since then, including two big wins in the most recent fixtures of 27-52 and 25-54. The last time Harlequins triumphed against the Chiefs was almost four years ago in a 33-10 win in London. Despite this incredible record against the Quins, Susie Appleby is wary to be too confident going into Saturday’s fixture.
“I have to share, I’m never confident, I don’t know whether it’s a failing as a coach or a positive as a coach, but I always look at the performance and the detail. If we get the details right then the performance follows.
“Of course we should be confident, we’ve got a great squad, we’ve got some really good players that are putting stuff together week in week out, so if I’m more objective in my thinking, then yes of course we’re expecting a good performance, but I don’t want to take anything away from Quins, they have struggled but they are coming into form and we need to make sure they don’t come into form against us.”
One player who will be looking forward to this weekend’s game for a different reason to most is Chiefs back-rower Rachel Johnson, who will mark her 50th appearance for the club this weekend since her debut against Saracens back in 2020. Chiefs head coach Susie Appleby is thrilled for the milestone for Johnson, and will hope that the occasion will push her players on to a memorable victory.
“It was Brooke (Bradley) last week and Rachel this week, there’s just some brilliant players who have been here since the off and they are massive loyal components and integral to everything we do, and Rachel is very much at the heart of what we do, so it will be a great one to celebrate with her.”
Despite a big Premiership game this weekend for the Chiefs, lots of eyes will be firmly pressed on their upcoming Premiership game against league leaders Gloucester-Hartpury, who they face after Harlequins on the 2nd of March. A win in that game would see them close the gap on the top of the table and give them a chance to catch the runaway leaders by the end of the season. Head coach Susie Appleby knows just how important taking a winning momentum into that game might prove to be.
“We make no bones about it, this is a huge one. Continuity is everything, we had a good win against Sale and that remains in the players thoughts no matter the week off, and then if we can get a good performance this weekend that will take us up to Gloucester in a really good frame of mind and frame of mind is a large contributor to what you do on the field. As I’ve said, however, we won’t look beyond this weekend and we’re looking forward to the Quins on Saturday.”
With no fresh injury worries at the moment for Susie Appleby to worry about, she should have a good crop of players to pick from for this Saturday’s match, but one player who is nearing her return is winger Jodie Ounsley, who the club recently announced was back out on the training pitch after a long stint out with a shoulder injury. With the young winger making her way back to full fitness, Appleby will have a tough task of picking who to play in that position, with the likes of Claudia Macdonald and Eilidh Sinclair in good form, having dotted down five times between them against Sale. However, it is a task that Appleby is ready to relish once Ounsley is back at full fitness.
“Jodie is another one, you talk about smiles on faces, she’s just the most positive, positive being. She’s got some work to do because she’s been off the field for a long time, but she’s an incredibly powerful athlete and she’s a lovely girl.
“Her application and desire to learn is second to none, and so I’m just looking forward to hopefully getting some games under her belt when she’s back on the field in a couple of weeks.”
The Chiefs clash against Harlequins this Saturday is a 2:30 kick-off at Sandy Park, which should be the venue for an all-time classic between the two sides this weekend.