Ewers added to European squad

By Mark Stevens
9/1/18

Exeter Chiefs have added Dave Ewers into their European squad ahead of their crunch Champions Cup clash with Montpellier at Sandy Park this Saturday (3:15pm).

The imposing back-row forward, who has spent much of the current campaign sidelined with a knee injury, was not initially registered by the English champions for their earlier rounds in the competition.

However, the 27-year-old's return to first team action in recent weeks, coupled with a broken hand for Sam Skinner, means the Chiefs have opted to add the Harare-born forward into their squad moving forward.

With just two rounds of a highly competitive Pool 3 to play, Rob Baxter's men know nothing less than a victory against the current French Top 14 league leaders will be enough for them moving forward.

Back-to-back losses against unbeaten pool leaders Leinster last month have seen the Chiefs slip to third in the standings on nine points, four adrift of Montpellier and nine behind the Irish province.

However, the Chiefs have already shown they can beat their French rivals in battle, winning the Round Two meeting between the two clubs at the Altrad Stadium back in October 27-24.

Exeter's win that day was only their second-ever Champions Cup victory on French soil and was secured thanks to tries from Don Armand (2) and Ian Whitten with fly-half Gareth Steenson landing the remainder of their points with his trusty right boot.

Lining up for Montpellier that day - and likely to again this weekend - is former Chiefs winger, Nemani Nadolo. The Fijian international scored one of their four tries that afternoon and is the club's leading try-scorer this season in the French top flight with 11 touchdowns.