Chiefs side to face Tigers
By Mark Stevens
26/9/19
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, has called for more of the same from his team head of tomorrow’s Premiership Rugby Cup Round Two clash with Leicester Tigers at Welford Road (7:45pm).
Fresh from their bonus point win against Bath last Saturday, the Devonians make the trip to the East Midlands aiming to build on that showing against a Tigers outfit, who themselves were humbled 57-23 by Worcester Warriors in their seasonal opener.
In what was a decent first hit up from the Chiefs – who included ten debutants in their match-day squad – Baxter will once again stick with a large nucleus of that winning formula for this latest assignment.
“In a lot of ways, we couldn’t have asked for much more of them,” said Baxter. “The game had a bit of everything. It had some quality attack from us, it had some perseverance and hard work, it had a little bit of an attitude challenge when Bath started to come back at us at the start of the second half, and then we finished the game as the stronger side.
“Another positive was that we got good game minutes into the 23 players and we came away with no injuries, so we got pretty much everything we wanted out of the game. To get the bonus point as well was fantastic, especially in terms of us trying to progress through the group.”
Keen to ensure his entire playing squad will be up and running ahead of the start of the new Gallagher Premiership season, which starts with a home encounter against Harlequins on October 19, Baxter will utilise the three remaining Cup fixtures not only as the ideal opportunity to get all his players firing on all cylinders, but to allow genuine competition for places come that opening clash.
“There are lots of reasons why it’s an opportunity,” added Baxter. “Now, it can be an opportunity by playing well and winning the game, but it can also be an opportunity by showing really good characteristics when the game is tough and things aren’t perfect. That’s probably what we highlighted in the run up to last week’s game. We said ‘don’t be the guy who gets it wrong when the going gets tough’ – because, ultimately, it’s not going to be perfect first up, but you can be perfect in your attitude and your endeavour to do well.
“As I said, I thought on the whole we saw that through the majority of the squad, for the majority of the game, and it’s probably why we ended up winning because that was incredibly important as well.”
A similar mind-set will no doubt be needed for a trip into the Tigers Den tomorrow night. As English rugby’s most decorated club side, Leicester pride themselves on producing big displays – particularly on home turf – and Baxter will have warned his players to expect a response of sorts from their rivals.
“Of course, it’s a whole different ball game this week,” continued Baxter. “But it’s a whole different level of excitement too. If you think about those young guys who have just debuted or those who have just come into our side from overseas or another club, are there many better places to go in the Premiership than Welford Road?
“Well, there are not many. It’s an iconic place to go and it’s take us a few trips to get to grips with it, That said, we’ve had a few good results there and what’s important now is we go up there and show the same level of effort and endeavour to try and win the game. We need to stick at things, just the same as we did last week, because I can’t predict Leicester’s approach to the game, or what team they will pick, or how good they will be on the night. All we can talk about is the level of perfomance we want to put in – and that’s what is going to be very important to us.
“I’ve said to the guys this week, I’m expecting them to hit the pitch with at least the same level of effort as last week because you’ll always have something to work with. If guys have good attitude and a good work-rate, you’ve always got something to work with. You can turn up as a coach each day and know it’s going to be a good day. That is what we have got with this group at the moment and that’s the very minimum we will expect again come Friday night.”
Team news for the Chiefs sees them making five changes to their starting XV from a week ago. Into the pack come experienced Aussie internationals Greg Holmes and Dave Dennis, the latter of whom will skipper the side, and they will be joined by South African newcomer Jacques Vermeulen, who is poised to make his first start for the club.
Behind, Harvey Skinner takes over at fly-half from Gareth Steenson, while Barrie Karea’s inclusion in the centre means a slight re-jig with Tom Wyatt moving to full-back and Max Bodilly switching to the wing in place of Olly Woodburn.
On the bench, fit-again back Pete Laverick is included in a first-team squad for the first time since making his Chiefs debut in this competition away to Worcester Warriors back in January 2018. The talented back has been sidelined for much of that period since with knee and ankle injuries respectively.
CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE LEICESTER TIGERS
15 Tom Wyatt
14 Max Bodilly
13 Tom Hendrickson
12 Barrie Karea
11 James Short
10 Harvey Skinner
9 Sam Maunder
1 Billy Keast
2 Jack Innard
3 Greg Holmes
4 Dave Dennis (capt)
5 Stan South
6 Jannes Kirsten
7 Josh Caulfield
8 Jacques Vermeulen
16 Jordon Poole
17 Danny Southworth
18 Marcus Street
19 Lewis Pearson
20 James McRae
21 Joe Snow
22 Sam Morley
23 Pete Laverick