Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Exeter join away fans segregation debate, name team for Newcastle

The Exeter team before last month's home game versus Leicester (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Two-time champions Exeter Chiefs have weighed in on the recent debate about segregating away fans at Gallagher Premiership matches. The Devon-based club, who have been part of the English top flight since 2010, have expressed alarm that steps could be taken to prevent fans from different clubs mingling freely at matches, including at Sandy Park.

ADVERTISEMENT

A statement read: “Following reporting of away ends at Premiership rugby matches, Exeter Rugby Club would like to clarify our position on this subject. It has never been discussed nor suggested that fans should be segregated at matches.

“The integration of two groups of supporters is one of the cornerstones of our sport, and there is no plan that would endanger this key value.

Video Spacer

WATCH: Chasing the Sun Season 2 Trailer | RPTV

The brilliant Chasing the Sun 2, charting the inspiring story of the Springboks at Rugby World Cup 2023, can be watched on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

Video Spacer

WATCH: Chasing the Sun Season 2 Trailer | RPTV

The brilliant Chasing the Sun 2, charting the inspiring story of the Springboks at Rugby World Cup 2023, can be watched on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

“Seeing visiting fans from across the country, enjoying a famous Sandy Park pasty and a pint with our own home supporters is one of the great experiences on a match day and under no circumstances will this be jeopardised.

“The only discussions into which we have entered, are suggestions that we make it easier for supporter groups to purchase tickets in a block so that they might enjoy the atmosphere collectively and sit together if they should choose to do so.”

Fixture
Gallagher Premiership
Newcastle
24 - 18
Full-time
Exeter Chiefs
All Stats and Data

Exeter chairman/CEO Tony Rowe added: “Here at Exeter, we will never allow fans to be segregated. I understand the concerns of supporters who have been alarmed at this, but I would like to assure everyone that this has never been a discussion on the table.

“One of the highlights of any rugby match day experience is to integrate with fans from the opposing team, sharing a beer and a conversation about the match, we will continue to celebrate and facilitate this great tradition.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Winless after four rounds of matches in the 2024/25 Premiership, Exeter are at bottom club Newcastle on Friday night with an XV showing just one change from last weekend’s high scoring Sandy Park loss to Bristol. Ethan Roots will start at blindside with Jacques Vermeulen missing out.

EXETER (vs Newcastle, Friday): 15. Josh Hodge; 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13. Olly Woodburn, 12. Joe Hawkins, 11. Paul Brown-Bampoe; 10. Harvey Skinner, 9. Sam Maunder; 1. Scott Sio, 2. Jack Yeandle (capt), 3. Marcus Street, 4. Rusi Tuima, 5. Franco Molina, 6. Ethan Roots, 7. Richard Capstick, 8. Ross Vintcent. Reps: 16. Jack Innard, 17. Kwenzo Blose, 18. Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19. Christ Tshiunza, 20. Greg Fisilau, 21. Tom Cairns, 22. Will Haydon-Wood, 23. Ben Hammersley.

Related

Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 tickets application phase is now open! Apply now.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 1 hour ago
Four talking points after a 'bonkers' England loss to Australia

On the face of it the England rush defence seemed to be worse this week than last. I thought the line speed last week was very effective against NZ, and that the NZ tries had to be very well worked to get around or through. But in fact the apparent deterioration of the England defence may have been more about Schmidt learning from the NZ game. Australia were quick about getting the ball outside of the midfield defenders, and England struggled to cover it effectively. Suaailii was a key element of this. The Boks are going to test this next week, and if England don't address it we should see some Bok tries out wide.


The England attack was as expected, ie fairly ineffective, per last week. Smith is the exception. His magic was behind almost everything England did on attack. While it's great for England to have a player like this, the question is what will happen when an opponent targets him to minimize his impact. Can England win a game with their Plan B? We saw what happened in the 2019 RWC final when the Boks shut down George Ford.


More of a surprise was the England forward pack. This ought to be the area in which Bothwick excels. It is a traditional England strength, and Borthwick was a forward himself. And there is a lot of experience in that pack. So I thought Australia might be overwhelmed up front. But that's not really what happened. It's not obvious that the England pack is any more than average at the moment.


My conclusion this week is similar to last, namely that England has not solved its coaching problem. It looks very different for NZ and Australia - they both have coaching results that are looking quite good.

12 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Rugby World Cup sides toppled in afternoon of Tier 2 upsets Rugby World Cup sides toppled in afternoon of Tier 2 upsets
Search