Exeter Chiefs Women put in a shift

Exeter Chiefs Women faced Gloucester-Hartpury in a pre-season friendly at the University Stadium.

It was an ideal chance for both sets of coaches to look at new and existing players, using rolling substitutions, ahead of the start of the league next month.

Chiefs were slower to start, struggling to get out of their own half and a few too many penalties, but it looked like one of the three starting debutants, winger Georgina Tasker, would be the first to score. However, her sprint down the wing was pulled up short following a forward pass.

Chiefs opened the second half with a try from scrum-half Robinson after Gloucester-Hartpury knocked on in their own 22. Chiefs' scrum was solid and the ball moved through the backs for Robinson to spot her chance.

This score was quickly followed by a try from fly-half McGoverne. It seemed this half would have more tries from the backs! This time the ball was passed from wing to wing until the visitors found a way through. Converted by Gabby Cantorna.

A slight bump in the road appeared when Aspinall found more space down the wing. Try number two for her and the scoreboard ticked over to 14-40 after another conversion from Manns.

As the game reached its final 10 minutes, a penalty for Chiefs saw props Flo Long and Abby Middlebrooke take some quick hard yards through the middle. McGoverne passed to Sinclair to go under the posts.

Full-time: 14-47