LONG READ Poppy Leitch: 'From the moment I arrived at Chiefs, I felt like this is where I belong and where I want to be.'

Poppy Leitch became the first woman to reach 100 caps for the club in December when they played Gloucester-Hartpury, marking her out as a trailblazer in the game. It was the 101st game that the women’s side had played – and Leitch, the team’s captain, had been an integral part of every single match the club had played since she joined.

But what about the first match? Well, Leitch watched it on YouTube after thinking she didn’t want to play rugby anymore, instead supporting her partner and fellow Chiefs player Ebony Jefferies.

The talismanic forward had been approached by head coach Susie Appleby when she was in the process of forming the inaugural side but turned down the offer, which she recalled in an interview with the club ahead of reaching her personal milestone.

The now 27-year-old embodies what it is to be an Exeter Chiefs player, in a team built from the ground up fusing international stars with raw local talent.

Following a disappointing denouement to her time at Bristol, where she’d been since she was 18, the England international wanted to jack in rugby altogether, as she told RugbyPass.

“I definitely wanted to stop playing after Bristol; it wasn’t a good end to that chapter of my rugby, which is a shame. I feel like if Chiefs hadn’t come up at the time that it had, I probably would’ve just stopped completely. I don’t want anyone to ever get into a position like that,” she reflected while sat in her office at Exeter University.

“I was watching my girlfriend Ebony, who was playing the first-ever game for Chiefs, against Gloucester. I was watching it with my mum, and she said, ‘Surely you miss it?’ In that moment what I realised was how dare a bad ending at a club then mean that I get to a position where I don’t want to play anymore.

“I thought well actually, f**k this, I’m going to go and play, have a crack and see how I get on. From the moment I arrived at Chiefs, I really felt like this is where I belong and where I want to be. I felt very welcomed by everybody.

“My first game was against Bristol, which was quite ironic, but even in that sense, maybe it was meant to be. It reminded me that just because I ended that chapter, it doesn’t mean I can’t start anew.

“When I look back on it, I realise that I was probably quite low and didn’t know what to do. That’s not to sound too melodramatic, but it was a time where I probably could have done with some sports psychology support.

“I thought, I don’t need rugby, that’s what’s making me upset, but that wasn’t the case, it was other things. I’m glad that I put my boots back on and got back out there with Chiefs. I don’t regret that decision at all. I don’t regret playing hard to get because I really had to feel like I missed it.”

I’m sort of glad that game was like that because I’m an overthinker and it allowed me to dissect how I feel I’ve been able to impact the club so far; what changes I’ve been able to make for the good of the players, and what have I not been able to achieve yet.

The occasion of raising her metaphorical bat to salute her ton was not a perfect by any means, and actually, one that the captain said was her ‘worst game in a Chiefs shirt’, with the home side losing 12-41 at Sandy Park. The loss did however give a wider perspective on her milestone, and the growth of the club.

“What I looked back on is how much impact have I’ve been able to have to make this club the best it can be. With that game being so challenging it made me realise I’ve still got a lot to do,” she says, earnestly.

“I’m not saying that’s all on me and that I’m this hero, I don’t want to come across like that, it’s more that we can’t have a game like that again where we don’t feel cohesive as a group. We need to be connected in what we do.

“I’m sort of glad that game was like that because I’m an overthinker and it allowed me to dissect how I feel I’ve been able to impact the club so far; what changes I’ve been able to make for the good of the players, and what have I not been able to achieve yet.

Perfect Lineout Lift w/ Exeter Chiefs Captain & lock Poppy Leitch 💫

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GSR and @vodafoneuk are on a mission to bridge the gap between uni rugby and the top leagues in England, Scotland, and Wales with all BUCS Super Rugby Teams joining the journey. pic.twitter.com/7McURiRlHI

— The Good, The Scaz And The Rugby (@GoodScazRugby) January 27, 2025

“It was a poignant moment for me to reflect on what I want in the next couple of years of my life. Getting smashed by Gloucester was not good, but it’s allowed me to reflect.”

Upon further musing, the altruistic Leitch is quick to speak of others before reflecting on personal successes, shining the light on the wider meaning of reaching the historic milestone.

“It’s ridiculous that I’ve only missed one game when you think about it. I don’t really understand how I’ve managed to get away with that,” she laughs.

“I feel honoured I was the first person and Ebony will be the second person, which is also funny. I feel surrounded by so many amazing players that I feel a bit ridiculous that I’ve reached that milestone before some of the players I’ve played alongside who are continuously inspiring me.

“The biggest thing is not that I have personally played 100 games, but that the club has been going for that time. In those games, every time I’ve played alongside different people. One game it was Emily Tuttosi, a Canadian international or Cliodhna Moloney, an Irish international, but in the years before that I played alongside Daisy French, a local farming girl.

When Rachel Johnson first arrived, I remember everyone freaking out because she turned up this huge, ripped individual and I thought she was absolutely terrifying. However, we connected immediately and she’s now a longstanding friend of mine.

Leitch says the team have formed a close bond, and while there are a smattering of superstars, there are a whole host of lesser known individuals who have shaped the culture and are a fundamental part of the club’s history.

“Watching Linde van der Velden come over as one of the first overseas players, playing so many games with her, going through some challenges that she’s had, being able to support her, and then playing that game alongside her – those moments are special too.

“When Rachel Johnson first arrived, I remember everyone freaking out because she turned up this huge, ripped individual and I thought she was absolutely terrifying. However, we connected immediately and she’s now a longstanding friend of mine.

Leitch explains what was done by the club to mark the milestone, including updating her name plaque from bronze for 50 caps to silver, as well as other celebrations. But above all, her mascot for the day, six-year-old niece Florence, was the highlight.

“Florence had a really tricky start to life. Me and Ebony looked after her a lot and during COVID had her pretty much full-time with her brothers,” the Exeter-born forward explained.

“She was my mascot for the game, which was very special. Ebony got her a rugby shirt with 100 printed on the back and my name, which if anything, means more to me than my name being up in the building, which would be pretty cool,” she said, referencing the club’s centurion board for the men’s players, which she was unsure if she would be added to.

Part of the top-flight of women’s rugby for a decade, Leitch has seen the Premiership go through a series of metamorphoses that has led it to where it is today – regarded as one of, if not the best, women’s rugby league in the world.

Changes to the salary cap are one step that definitely needs to be taken. Increasing the salary cap or maybe shifting it so that there’s more opportunity for players to be paid in different ways.

Despite this, the harsh reality is that Premiership Women’s Rugby is still a league that is largely propped up by the exertions of players who hold down careers, either on a part-time or full-time basis, alongside playing the highest level of club rugby.

With only a small band of players having the luxury of earning enough money from rugby to dedicate their time to the sport, paying players enough to make the PWR a full-time career is an obvious next step needed in the league’s development. Leitch however points out that alongside this, further changes are essential in supporting players.

“Changes to the salary cap are one step that definitely needs to be taken. Increasing the salary cap or maybe shifting it so that there’s more opportunity for players to be paid in different ways.

“Perhaps more money to be paid for people to do studies or maybe there are more job roles that, for example, if you’re working within a university, regardless of what your job is, then you fall outside the salary cap. Maybe it’s encouraging players to look for employment in certain areas because they could then fall outside the salary cap.

Ahead of our Community game this Sunday, we asked Captain Poppy Leitch why the Chiefs family means so much to her and the girls 👇

💬‘I feel very lucky to have grown a fan base as a player, and to have that fan base now support me as a coach’#OurHiddenHeroes | #EXEvSAR pic.twitter.com/1V7SKM2Hni

— Exeter Chiefs Women (@ExeChiefsWomen) May 15, 2024

“The biggest thing that’s needed is more pressure on the psychological support that’s provided. It’s been part of the MOS [minimum operating standards] this year that you have to provide sports psychology support, but it’s very minimal.

“With the league trying to grow professionally, there’s going need to be psychological support for all players. There needs to be support for how they navigate their way through, potentially moving out of having a full-time salary in another job to then being solely a rugby player.

Leitch admits, throughout her stellar career to have neglected her psychological needs as a player and an individual and argues that if that provision is provided, then the women’s game will be in a far better place.

“I would say if anything, if there was a little bit more of a strict process around the psychological support that you get at your clubs and if your clubs can’t afford to pay for it, maybe then the RPA, WRA, PWR, or even World Rugby can fund that for you.

“Ideally, you’d have to have a sports psychologist with you two days a week, minimum, for you to speak with, to have workshops with, whatever it might be but making it more accessible. Those holistic bits of the programme, like the psychology provision, the physio provision, the strength and conditioning, making sure that each of those MOSs are being hit properly, is more important than money right now.

Clubs perhaps need more support in how they manage load, how they rotate players. It’s another hurdle in our league that is challenging for the clubs to have to manage.

“We’re in that weird space where some clubs want to spend more money and some clubs want to be able to provide more to players holistically. More holistic psychology support would be better for me if I could implement anything.”

This season has highlighted perhaps the pressure on those who are fulfilling other careers outside of rugby, due to the condensed nature of the schedule to allow players to best prepare for this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup later.

Leitch shared her experience as a player who works full-time and discussed how the nature of the league at present perhaps doesn’t lend itself to such a structure.

“I understand the rationale behind it in terms of the prep for the World Cup. However, it’s a lot for an amateur league to buy into because I know a lot of players are not paid enough to live, and most clubs have people who are working full-time or part-time.

“Clubs perhaps need more support in how they manage load, how they rotate players. It’s another hurdle in our league that is challenging for the clubs to have to manage.”

The league has seemingly been closer than ever this year, with one-score games and shock results happening in almost every round. Leitch suggests that this is perhaps a reflection of the condensed nature of the 2024/25 season, which is bookended by international competition – WXV taking place at the start, and the Six Nations and the Pacific Four Series soon after the culmination.

“If you combine a more competitive league and more congested games, it’s probably amplifies the stress clubs are under, and that’s probably why the table is the way it is. If you had exactly the same teams with the same personnel, but with a regular season, there probably would be more separation between the teams.

Since being named Exeter co-captain with Kate Zackary (now captain of Trailfinders Women) ahead of the 2021/22 season, Leitch has been a figurehead of Exeter’s leadership group.

As head coach of Exeter University’s women’s rugby club, she has garnered leadership experience in a different capacity, which she has implemented into both her role as Exeter Chiefs captain and at the university.

“Coaching has given me an insight into how to try and get the best from people. If I’m a leader at Chiefs, it’s my responsibility to try and help create an environment where people feel that they are empowered by the people around them. My greatest gift from coaching is actively trying to encourage Chiefs and the university programme to be the best they can be.

“I think I’ve done a good job at the university. I feel I’ve taken the programme to the next level and believe a lot of my players feel very valued and supported. I want to achieve that at Chiefs but it’s just harder because it’s professional and it’s competitive.”

What is clear is that Leitch is a role-model, someone who has overcome hardship and continues to inspire. Indeed, it would surprise no one is she closed in on the next milestone of 200 games in an Exeter Chiefs shirt. Who would bet against her?