EXETER CHIEFS without England quartet at Gloucester
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- Created on Friday, 28 October 2022 06:56
- Last Updated on Friday, 28 October 2022 08:12
- Published on Friday, 28 October 2022 06:56
- Written by MARK STEVENS Exeter Chiefs
Exeter will be without their England international quartet as they tackle West rivals Gloucester in Premiership round eight tonight (1945ko).Ahead of kick-off, Chiefs have been forced into changes as England duty means they are without Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell, Sam Simmonds and centre Henry Slade, who was called up on Monday having initially missed out on Eddie Jones’ selection plans.
Top Scottish internationals Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray are available and will take their place in the match-day squad, which includes a starting debut for Australian international prop Scott Sio.
He is one of three changes to the Chiefs pack, joining skipper Jack Yeandle in the front-row, while Lewis Pearson is added to the back-row in place of Wesh international Christ Tshiunza, who starts on the bench.
Rory O’Loughlin comes into centre in place of Slade while the absence of Nowell is countered with the return to fitness of Josh Hodge, who has happy memories of scoring at Kingsholm back in March 2021.
Just days after coming unstuck 22-20 to unbeaten leaders Saracens, Rob Baxter’s side head to Kingsholm looking to get their season back on track.
Having already seen off near neighbours Bristol Bears on a Friday night, the Devonians will be hoping to replicate that performance with another big performance at third placed Gloucester.
The Kingsholm club are in a rich vein of form and buoyed by their own last-gasp 22-21 win at London Irish last Friday.
Chiefs head coach, Ali Hepher said “It’s always a great place to go, especially on a Friday night.
“It’s a traditional rugby club and one of those fixtures you always look for at the start of the season. Look, it’s going to be two good sides really going at it. They’ve only lost once this season and, a bit like us, they’ve been involved in a couple of tight finishes this season.
“When you look at them, they have a clear way of playing. Their maul has always been a threat and it provides them with a platform to score tries and create space. The jackal threat as well gets them penalties, which they go to the corner with, so we’ve got to make sure we’re right on our game.
“At the same time, there are things we can exploit and it will be up to us to make sure we make the most of our opportunities.”
The Chiefs showed they are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the very best sides at Sandy Park and were only denied by Andy Goode's last minute penalty winner as pacesetters Sarries made it six wins on the spin.
“Tough margins, they always are in the top games,” added Hepher. “Looking at the game, we started very well, but we needed to be a bit more clinical in what we did. Also, the fightback we showed – especially when we were nine points down in the second half – playing into the wind and rain, was again very good.
“A lot of what we did out there was pleasing and we wouldn’t have had to do much more to have won that game. Like any game, there are learns to take from it, especially for some of those younger players and the new guys, but overall the guys put in a lot of effort and the attitude was right up there, which is all we can ask for as coaches.”
Exeter starting 15 Stuart Hogg 14 Josh Hodge 13 Rory O’Loughlin 12 Ian Whitten 11 Olly Woodburn 10 Harvey Skinner 9 Jack Maunder 1 Scott Sio 2 Jack Yeandle (capt) 3 Harry Williams 4 Ruben Van Heerden 5 Jonny Gray 6 Dave Ewers 7 Lewis Pearson 8 Jacques Vermeulen
16 Jack Innard 17 Alec Hepburn 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott 19 Jack Dunne 20 Christ Tshiunza 21 Sam Maunder 22 Joe Simmonds 23 Dan John
EXETER CHIEFS SWOOP FOR FROST
“It’s a traditional rugby club and one of those fixtures you always look for at the start of the season. Look, it’s going to be two good sides really going at it. They’ve only lost once this season and, a bit like us, they’ve been involved in a couple of tight finishes this season.
“When you look at them, they have a clear way of playing. Their maul has always been a threat and it provides them with a platform to score tries and create space. The jackal threat as well gets them penalties, which they go to the corner with, so we’ve got to make sure we’re right on our game.
“At the same time, there are things we can exploit and it will be up to us to make sure we make the most of our opportunities.”
The Chiefs showed they are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the very best sides at Sandy Park and were only denied by Andy Goode's last minute penalty winner as pacesetters Sarries made it six wins on the spin.
“Tough margins, they always are in the top games,” added Hepher. “Looking at the game, we started very well, but we needed to be a bit more clinical in what we did. Also, the fightback we showed – especially when we were nine points down in the second half – playing into the wind and rain, was again very good.
“A lot of what we did out there was pleasing and we wouldn’t have had to do much more to have won that game. Like any game, there are learns to take from it, especially for some of those younger players and the new guys, but overall the guys put in a lot of effort and the attitude was right up there, which is all we can ask for as coaches.”
Exeter starting 15 Stuart Hogg 14 Josh Hodge 13 Rory O’Loughlin 12 Ian Whitten 11 Olly Woodburn 10 Harvey Skinner 9 Jack Maunder 1 Scott Sio 2 Jack Yeandle (capt) 3 Harry Williams 4 Ruben Van Heerden 5 Jonny Gray 6 Dave Ewers 7 Lewis Pearson 8 Jacques Vermeulen
16 Jack Innard 17 Alec Hepburn 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott 19 Jack Dunne 20 Christ Tshiunza 21 Sam Maunder 22 Joe Simmonds 23 Dan John
EXETER CHIEFS SWOOP FOR FROST
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