Chiefs U18s side to face Gloucester

By Mark Stevens
12/1/18

Exeter Chiefs Under-18s coach Gareth Elliott says his side are relishing their latest Premiership Under-18s encounter when they travel to Gloucester tomorrow (2:15pm).

Buoyed by an impressive 48-victory over London Irish at Sandy Park last Saturday in their seasonal opener, the Chiefs are aware they will face a much tougher proposition against the Cherry & Whites at Dean Close School.

Scrum-half Sam Maunder once again leads the visiting line-up. The younger brother of current Chiefs and England star, Jack Maunder, Sam is part of an unchanged back division.

Up front, Alfie Petch moves from tight-head to that of loosehead with Henry Trudgill elevated from the bench. The only other change see Lewis Pearson come into the second row at the expense of the injured Jake Clemson.

Looking ahead to the game, Elliott said: "Last week was a great to the season for us.

The squad are looking forward to the challenge of our first away trip against, what we know will be a tough Gloucester side, who have won their first two fixtures.

"This week's training has allowed us to iron out some of the finer details from the London Irish game - and implement some things which we hope will help us challenge Gloucester.

"We know Gloucester will be a step up in intensity and as a coaching team we are excited to see how the players rise to that challenge. Selection was again difficult, which underliens the ability within the group.

"I'm confident in the way that we have prepared that we are able to perform to a level above what we achieved last weekend and that is the most important thing. It's great to see the players so hungry to improve their game and develop from week to week.

EXETER CHIEFS UNDER-18s SIDE TO FACE GLOUCESTER

15 James Tucker
14 Archie Hill
13 Luke Flack
12 Robbie Weeks
11 Kian Atkinson
10 Olly Toomey
9 Sam Maunder (capt)
1 Alfie Petch
2 Will Ridout
3 Henry Trudgill
4 Lewis Pearson
5 Cory Teague
6 Flynn Elworthy
7 Richard Capstick
8 Rus Tuima

16 Harvey Dunn
17 Oliver Andrews
18 Elliot Salt
19 Joseph Parker-Cooke
20 Bryn-Lee Jago
21 James Tait
22 Francesco Scardamaglia
23 Dan Lilley