Exeter Chiefs Women chase semi-final glory at Sandy Park

Exeter Chiefs Women will be aiming for a place in the Premier 15s Rugby Cup semi-finals when they face Trailfinders Women at Sandy Park tomorrow (Saturday, September 20), with kick-off at 1pm.

The game marks the first fixture at Sandy Park since the stadium hosted seven Rugby World Cup matches, which drew nearly 59,000 spectators from across the globe.

Exeter Chiefs Women’s head coach, Steve Salvin, is hoping the recent World Cup exposure will attract new fans to support the team.

READ NEXT: Football returns to Pinhoe as major pitch upgrades complete

“I went to almost all of those World Cup games and it inspired me. The club did an incredible job with the games that they put on. To have pretty much a full stadium, for seven fixtures...seven women’s fixtures? Like I said, it inspired me,” Salvin said.

“If 50 per cent of the people in that stadium felt that same inspiration that I did, hopefully some of them would go, ‘Do you know what? There is something in this and I'm going to go and watch [women’s rugby] on a more consistent basis.’ Those games were inspiring to sit and watch.”

Exeter Chiefs have made two changes to the side that defeated Gloucester-Hartpury two weeks ago, with University of Exeter’s Eva Sterritt starting on the wing and flanker Taz Bricknell returning to the back row.

On the bench, young prop Lilly Plowman could make her debut, while scrum-half Lucy Nye returns from United Kingdom Armed Forces duty.

With both teams on one win each in Pool A, the winner of tomorrow’s match will advance to face the top team from Pool B in the semi-final on the weekend of 4–5 October.

Mr Salvin added: “If we get through this game with a win, we obviously then have a semi-final and another game, be it a final or a third-fourth play-off. The intention is to put our best foot forward in terms of performance. If we do that, we give ourselves the best chance of winning the game.”

Trailfinders Women come into the fixture after a 38-22 defeat by Harlequins but a strong 60-12 victory over Gloucester-Hartpury in round one.

Mr Salvin expects a challenging encounter against a side packed with international and GB sevens players.

“Ealing will be good. When you think of how much recruitment Ealing have done with their squad, they've got immense depth. They've got a good number of international players playing this weekend, plus GB sevens players and some talented youngsters as well. They've got a good blend and a really good cup team. Hopefully that lends itself to us being able to perform in a similar way in a really competitive game,” Mr Salvin said.

Tickets for Exeter Chiefs Women v Trailfinders Women are £11 for adults and £5.50 for children and youths, and the fixture is included in the men’s and women’s season ticket packages.

The England v France Rugby World Cup semi-final will also be screened in the County Suite after the match.

Exeter Chiefs Women squad for the match:

• 15 Merryn Elworthy

• 14 Eva Sterritt

• 13 Naomi Brennan

• 12 Hannah Bluck

• 11 Katie Buchanan

• 10 Liv McGoverne

• 9 Flo Robinson (vc)

• 1 Demi Swann

• 2 Kayleigh Preece

• 3 Alessia Skeates

• 4 Linda van der Velden

• 5 Emily Robinson (c)

• 6 Taz Bricknell

• 7 Maisy Allen (vc)

• 8 Gabriella Nigrelli

Replacements: Sofia Bekir Fuente, Lucy Ward, Lilly Plowman, Lola Whitley, Zoe Dare, Lucy Nye, Sophie Langford, Sammie Harris