Wednesday saw EURFC’s High Performance team take on an Exeter Chiefs squad made up of fringe players, as the clubs pre-season preparations continued apace.

After a successful 8-week training block, the team welcomed a fantastic number of newcomers throughout Freshers Week, with 95 members signed up for the academic year.
The huge figure represents the second largest sign-up the club have ever received, with plans now afoot for the formation of a 3rd team to compete against local clubs this season.
Wednesday’s match saw the 40-storng HPP side take on an Exeter Chiefs Women’s side made up of fringe players, including many who have played Premier 15s rugby before or are aspiring to.

The match was played in three blocks of 20 minutes, allowing for squad rotation that gave all players the opportunity to get some much-needed minutes on the field.
Speaking after the match, University Head Coach Poppy Leitch was impressed with the efforts of her side, with the ferocity and strength of the university defence being particularly pleasing.

“We didn’t really get a huge amount of opportunity to attack but, we had some fantastic learnings from our defensive performance that should stand us in really good stead for our first BUCS match away in Oxford on October 13th,” explained Leitch.

“I was really pleased with our defensive play across all three blocks, and it was fantastic to see several university players in both Exeter green and a Chiefs jersey throughout the match.”

The match also allowed players who haven’t played any official fixtures yet for the university, to experience a highly competitive matchday for the first time; something that will prove invaluable as the season gets underway.

With a large number of current and former university students involved within the Exeter Chiefs setup, the match served to further highlight the strength of the link between the university and Chiefs, with Leitch thanking the Exeter Chiefs Women’s coaching team for helping to organise the fixture.

“I want to say a huge thank you to Susie Appleby (Exeter Chiefs Women’s Head Coach,) and Tom Hayes (Assistant Coach,) for their continued support,” added Leitch. “Their efforts and the strengthening of the link between both programmes has allowed us to continue making the women’s rugby programme at Exeter University one of the very best.”