Team News: Baxter Names Team for European Knockout Clash

Rob Baxter has named his Chiefs side to come up against Bath Rugby at Sandy Park this Saturday afternoon, April 6, in their Investec Champions Cup last 16 knockout clash.

Baxter’s men were bruised by a tough loss to Sale Sharks in Manchester in Round 14 of the Gallagher Premiership last weekend but turn all attention to the possibility of progression in the 2023/24 European campaign.

In the front row, Jack Yeandle starts at hooker in an impressive 50th Champions Cup appearance. Alongside him for another week, the veteran Chief will have Scott Sio at loosehead and Ehren Painter at tighthead.

Rusi Tuima returns to the matchday line-up to partner Dafydd Jenkins in the boiler room while in the back row, Ethan Roots looks set for his first Chiefs appearance following the Guinness Six Nations. The England man will start alongside fellow internationals Christ Tshiunza and Ross Vintcent.

The familiar duo of Tom Cairns and Harvey Skinner is picked as the scrum half - fly half combination. In the centres, it’s the extremely experienced pairing of Henry Slade and Ollie Devoto.

The back three from last weekend’s tough defeat remains intact as Josh Hodge starts at fullback with Olly Woodburn and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the wings.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter says all focus has been on preparation for this weekend’s fixture rather than reflection on last weekend.

“Bath are having a very good season. Johan [Van Graan] has pulled them together really well over the last year or so. I know they had some up and down games last year, but by the end of the season they were going very well, and they certainly gave us a decent beating in that period.

“They’ve got a very strong team across the board. They’ve got a lot of resilience amongst the group, so it’s going to be a significant challenge for us this weekend but, at the same time, it’ll be nice to have them at our place.

“We certainly had a kick in the pants from the result against Sale Sharks last weekend, so there’s not too much for us to take out of that apart from that it highlighted that you’ve got to be the team that turns up.

“I would think this weekend’s game will still have all the main ingredients of a Premiership match since it’s two league sides going up against one another. We’ve got to perform better than last week but we’ve also got to be excited that it’s a knockout game here at Sandy Park in front of a sellout crowd. So, we’ve got to hope that that brings a level of performance out of us that we can be proud of.”

On the bench, there could be a first Champions Cup appearance of the season for Jack Innard as he accompanies Danny Southworth and Marcus Street in the replacement front row. Lewis Pearson and Greg Fisilau then provide cover for both the second and back row.

For the backs, Stu Townsend, Will Haydon-Wood and Zack Wimbush all lie in wait.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Josh Hodge

14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

13 Henry Slade

12 Ollie Devoto

11 Olly Woodburn

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Tom Cairns

1 Scott Sio

2 Jack Yeandle

3 Ehren Painter

4 Rusi Tuima

5 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

6 Ethan Roots

7 Christ Tshiunza

8 Ross Vintcent

Replacements:

16 Jack Innard

17 Danny Southworth

18 Marcus Street

19 Lewis Pearson

20 Greg Fisilau

21 Stu Townsend

22 Will Haydon-Wood

23 Zack Wimbush