Susie Appleby’s Exeter have made a miraculous rise since forming in 2019, finishing second this year with 15 wins from 18 and the former England scrum-half is looking forward to locking horns with a Gloucester-Hartpury side she used to coach for five years before taking up her current position with the Chiefs.
“It makes me really happy that the side I got going is doing really well,” she said. I still know a lot of the players and a lot of the staff. Sean Lynn’s a fantastic bloke and is doing really well with the girls. What makes me really happy is the top two teams in the competition are in the final which doesn’t always happen.”
Exeter posses a formidable driving maul with USA international hooker Hope Rogers the leading beneficiary with 16 tries this season.
Appleby said: “We learn more and more about our players everyday. Hope Rogers is an unbelievable athlete and an unbelievable player. In theory she should only play 25-30 minutes a game but there she is standing on the pitch at the end of 80 minutes.
“The durability of our players is unreal. Poppy Leitch throwing the miss pass for us to score in the 80th minute last weekend are things that I can’t explain but as their coach I know what they’re capable of. When you get more right than when you get wrong good things come to you in sport.”
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Denne historien er fra June 18, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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