Eagles Debut With England’s Exeter

Kate Zackary lifting in the lineout (link)

The Allianz Premier 15s, the top-flight women’s competition in England, kicked off its 2020-21 season on Oct. 10. The Exeter Chiefs, new to the 10-team league this year, featured three USA Eagles in the opener against Gloucester-Hartpury.

RELATED: Zackary Talks Exeter Adventure

Kate Zackary (San Diego) started at openside, Jennine Detiveaux (Seattle) started at wing, and Gabby Cantorna (Glendale, Colo.) came on at flyhalf in the second half. Exeter lost the match 34-14, but all three Americans earned mentions in the Chiefs’ review. Zackary scored the team’s second try after a nice break to relocate the team to the opposition 22.

RELATED: Watch the full Exeter vs. Glouceter-Hartpury match

Exeter will look for its first win of the season this Saturday, Oct. 17, when the Chiefs play Bristol. USA Eagle Jess Wooden is still playing overseas as well and signed with Sale for this season. Wooden started at fullback but the Sharks lost their opener 29-7 to Loughborough.

RELATED: 20-21 Allianz Premier 15s Fixtures

The competition has adopted law variations that aim to limit face-to-face contact for the Covid-19 era (see below). After nine weeks of play, the adaptions will be reviewed and considered for the second half of the season, which culminates with the championship in May 2021.

• A play-advantage law from a knock-on reducing scrums by over 75%
• Free-kicks awarded to the opposition for a forward pass – reducing face-to-face contact by 6%
• Removal of the option for a scrum at a free kick or penalty – reducing face-to-face contact by 7%
• A maul may only have one stop then the ball must be used to reduce the length of the maul
• No players who are not in the start of a lineout can join a maul to reduce the number of players in the maul
• It will only be possible to drive a lineout in 22m to reduce the number of mauls
• Strict social distancing while ball is out of play including set water breaks, named bottles, limited face-to-face warm-up
• Game time is reduced to 35 minutes each way to mitigate risk while also recognizing the game will be faster with fewer stoppages and thereby supporting player welfare.

One opening-round match was postponed when a Bristol player tested positive for Covid-19 and 19 associates were identified as close contacts. The Bears’ match against the Wasps will be played on Oct. 31.