West Country production line keeping Chiefs in pole position
EXETER backs coach Ricky Pellow believes the “virtuous circle” being forged between Chiefs and other West Country sides Cornish Pirates, Plymouth and Taunton is arming his club with enough strengthin-depth to dominate English rugby for years.
Chiefs’ second string take on Northampton in tomorrow night’s A-League final at Franklin’s Gardens – less than a month after the majority of the side helped defeat a fullstrength Bath team to lift this season’s Anglo-Welsh Cup.
It will be the eighth domestic final Exeter have contested since 2014, including the last two Premiership finals and four successive Anglo-Welsh Cup finals, with Pellow insisting there is now little to choose in quality throughout the squad. Pellow, below, told
“If you look at how competitive we’ve been in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and A-League, there isn’t much difference in what you’d perceive as our top end players in the Premiership and those playing in the A-League.
“There will be a difference in age and experience but all the players now train together and our academy players train fully with the senior squad. There’s no separation and (head coach) Rob Baxter wants to see our academy players getting exposed early.
“We tend not to block a young player’s pathway so while we still need top end players who are going to move us on year-by-year, within that programme Rob’s very good at indentifying young players who come through and step into positions.
“Like any club you could go out and recruit world-class back rows, fly-halves or centres but, actually, we’ve freed up spaces for the likes of Sam and Joe Simmonds and there are lots of other young players who will have opportunities soon.”
Among the Chiefs’ 23 who featured in last Monday’s 50-14 A-League semi-final drubbing of Newcastle were 12 players who have been dual-registered with Plymouth or Cornish Pirates.
They include highlyrated front rows Billy Keast, Jack Owlett and Marcus Street, who have gained experience at Plymouth, while centre Tom Hendrickson and back-five forwards Josh Caulfield and Tom Lawday have starred for Pirates.
All are on the fringes of Exeter’s first team, with Pellow adding: “We’ve had to work very hard to get things to where they are but it’s testament to our loan clubs because although they get our players they also really help to develop them.
“Plymouth, Pirates, Taunton and Exeter University give us good bases to drop players in and it’s a virtuous circle we’re creating because everyone benefits – clubs and players – and it’s an extremely successful development pathway.”
Pellow, meanwhile, is on a fast-track to establishing himself as one of the brightest coaches in the country, nine years after the former Bath, Worcester, Manchester, Chiefs and Pirates No.9 joined the club’s academy coaching staff.
Pellow, 40, who was an unused replacement for Bath in the 1998 Heineken Cup final, said: “Brian Ashton was a big influence at Bath in terms of ball in play and high tempo and I’ve taken something from all the coaches I worked for.
“Ian Bremner gave me a good grounding at Exeter and I was then fortunate to be given a chance with Chiefs at their Truro academy.
“I’ve always been a sponge – now I’m trying to squeeze that sponge and use that knowledge at a great club where I can keep developing by challenging myself, the other coaches around me and, most importantly, the players.”