Women’s Game in Focus: Exeter Chiefs back row Ebony Jefferies

Sarah Rendell takes a weekly look at some important women players

Ebony Jefferies was falling out of love with rugby before she signed for Premier 15s club Exeter Chiefs ahead of their first season in the league last year.

She was playing for Bristol Bears but something wasn't clicking and then Chiefs head coach Susie Appleby contacted her.

The 21-year-old said: “I kind of got in a place where I wasn't enjoying my rugby as much. The players were all great there but it just wasn't right for me. I was falling out of love with rugby again and was in the position where I wasn't really sure if I was going to continue to play.

“Then I got in contact with Chiefs and said ‘I may as well give it a go' and here I am now.”

She signed for a club that has gone on to surpass many people's expectations as Chiefs are currently sat in fifth after defeating Saracens and Harlequins. The club handed defending champions Sarries their first loss in the league since October 2018.

Many have been surprised by the quality of the Chiefs but Jefferies says the team always knew they could do it.

“I suppose as players and coaches we knew we had the talent there, it's just about the execution of the team performance and I think we have really shown that,” the back row said. “So I think it's not surprised us as such.

“Maybe as an outsider point of view, other teams have been shocked by that but we've always believed in ourselves and known we could push on for that top four spot.”

Chiefs are continuing to target a semi-final place and are hoping to join Sarries and Quins who have already secured their spot.

However, if they don't manage to complete that feat they would have already achieved another goal – being the first Premier 15s club to have the same social media channels for both the men and women's teams.

Jefferies said: “It's absolutely amazing. I can remember at the start of the season when we were hearing from other clubs and they were saying ‘how come you don't have your own separate social media?'.

“We had a chat with our media team who said ‘why would we when we have already got such a big fan base?'

“It's just amazing how many likes and comments we can get on pretty much all of our posts really.

“The amount of shares, it's clear with the live streams over the past few weeks how much the fans are buying into it which is great.”