It was a huge day for EURFC on Saturday, with no less than nine current and former club members representing Exeter Chiefs in their opening Allianz Cup clash with Sale Sharks.

Former player and current EURFC Women’s Head Coach Poppy Leitch co-captained the side, alongside current student Flo Robinson, who was named as co-captain for the first time.

Elsewhere, currently student Nancy McGillivray made her Exeter Chiefs debut at inside centre, drawing praise from Head Coach Susie Appleby for a robust performance in defence, whilst Jess Thomas and Merryn Doidge, both currently at the university, made an impact on the game as well, with challenging conditions limiting the attacking opportunities for both sides.

Former club members Clara Nielson, Ebony Jefferies and Kayleigh Armstrong also all impressed for the Chiefs, with Nielson scoring Exeter’s opening try after just five minutes, as they opened their cup campaign with a commanding 19-0 victory over the Sharks.

The performance of the day though, came from current student Maisy Allen, who scored two tries in her first start at number 8 for the Chiefs.

Appleby heaped praise on the performance of the young backrow, as she scooped the Player of the Match award for good measure.

“There were some outstanding individual performances, Maisy Allen being one of them. We slotted her in at eight today and it was like she’s always played there,” explained Appleby.

At halftime, the Chiefs maintained a slender 7-0 advantage, despite controlling large parts of the game, before two tries from Allen in the second half saw them take the game beyond the Sharks.

Speaking about the messages at half-time, Allen explained that Appleby had challenged the side to keep “being patient” in challenging conditions.

“At half-time the messages were about being patient and playing with the weather,” she added. “In the first half, we were trying to play a bit too much rugby, so we made sure we focused on not overplaying, getting down into their half and showing patience, which we did in the second half.”

Allen also admitted that it was “great” to be out there with so many players who have been through the same journey as her, also expressing her delight at seeing the whole squad show such high-performance levels.

“Quite a lot of us train between the university and Chiefs, so to all play together and have Poppy out there leading us was great. It’s incredible to see everyone on the pitch (together as well.) We’ve all been training together since the start of the season but to see all of those girls coming out and playing, showing their ability, was great to see.”

With so many players with university ties representing the Chiefs this weekend, it only serves to highlight the impressive pathway being built between both programmes, with university rugby in Exeter clearly offering a tangible link through to elite level rugby that will only continue to grow.