Exeter Chiefs Women v Sale Sharks Women

Exeter Chiefs Women may have got a warm welcome from the sun at Morson Stadium, but the Sale Sharks were far from rolling out the red carpet. Instead, they enjoyed scoring seven tries to Chiefs’ three to claim a 41-17 win in the third round of the JAECOO Next Gen Cup.

The initial kick-off ball was caught by Chiefs prop Alessia Skeates and taken into contact by captain and skipper Emily Robinson. The ball was kicked into Sale’s half where it was knocked on, giving Chiefs the first scrum of the day,

Despite multiple phases of play and a lineout from a penalty, Chiefs could not get over the try-line and a knock-on gave Sale their first scrum, followed by a weaving run from Holly Thorpe that resulted in the first try of the afternoon from the winger.

But Chiefs were not to be outdone. They also benefited at scrum time seeing the ball cross the pitch to winger Eilidh Sinclair and back again with centre Naomi Brennan offloading to Sinclair to close in on the try-line. Skeates went over from close range.

Fly-half Lizzie Goulden was keen makes a nuisance of herself throughout the game and was happy to cause speedy chaos on the wing with lock Charlotte Fray doing the damage in the middle of the field before fellow second row Katie Childs scored her first try of the afternoon.

Sale continued to pile on the pressure in the sun but chose the slow and steady route from close quarters the next time with Childs taking her second.

Chiefs were struggling to regain any territory as errors gave away penalties and ground to a pumped-up home side. A Sale lineout in Chiefs 22 saw hooker Milly Hyndman drive over the line to take the bonus-point try.

Hope for the visitors came in the form of winger Deborah Wills as Chiefs set up camp in Sale's 22 and refused to be moved as the home side gave away several penalties. Wills was the last in the line to collect the ball and did not need asking twice to speed over for her first Chiefs try.

Chiefs played the first few minutes of the second half with 14 women on the pitch while Lola Whitley received treatment on the floor. The player advantage saw ever-dangerous winger Sophie Hopkins scores the first try of the second half after a devasting run through the middle from her fellow winger Thorpe.

A penalty at the scrum for Chiefs was kicked to touch with Carys Phillips now in the driving seat at hooker, but the lineout opportunity was missed putting the pressure back on the visitors. Full-back Freya Aucken looked threatening as she streamed into Chiefs half but fly-half Liv McGoverne intercepted the next pass to kick the ball ahead and into short-lived safety.

Aucken was back on the front foot again though to trouble Chiefs’ defence leading to a penalty in their own 22. Centre Beatrice Rigoni kicked this one to touch for the inevitable lineout and drive…and a hat-trick try for Childs.

A Chiefs lineout gave the visitors the platform they needed to put a little pressure on Sale. They were aided by the yellow card at the next lineout which saw Childs leave the field and Phillips driven over the line for Chiefs’ third try.

Despite being a player down, Red Roses centre Tatyana Heard scored on her debut for Sale to keep the Sharks scoreboard ticking over with Rigoni bring up the final home side tally of 41 with her conversion.