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'Farrell wants Ireland to be the best - but the top sides have them figured out'
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Exeter Chiefs recall England back-row but Wallaby still sidelined
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Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has recalled England back-row Ethan Roots to his matchday squad for the visit of top-of-the-table Northampton Saints to Sandy Park on Saturday afternoon.
Roots has fully recovered from the calf injury that has kept him out of action since February, but there is still no place in the squad for Wallaby star Len Ikitau, who hasn’t played since December following a shoulder injury.
The Chiefs are fourth in the Gallagher PREM table with 45 points and are seven points behind Saints, and Baxter keeps faith with the same starting 15 that booked a Challenge Cup semi-final spot with a hard-fought win over Benetton last weekend.
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The only two changes are on the replacements bench, where Finn Worley-Brady makes way for Roots, and Dan John drops out of the squad for Paul Brown-Bampoe, who has recovered from the minor niggle which ruled him out late on against Benetton.
Baxter admits this is a game that he has been looking forward to for some time after his side recovered from 33-7 down to snatch a 33-33 draw in the reverse fixture at Franklin’s Garden on the opening weekend of the PREM season.
“This is a game we’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. They’re a very good team, playing very good rugby and leading the way in the Prem. It’ll be a great test of where we are.
“We feel pretty comfortable with where we are. We’re having a good season, so it’s the right stage of the season for us to face this test. The key for me is that we look competitive in every fixture.
“If we do that, we’re going to be around where we want to be, which is top four, but we have to keep collecting points. We need to do pretty much everything well. Our defensive record this season is very good, and that will definitely be important in this game.
“More than anything, I think the key will be starting the game well. Northampton can race away with games very quickly if you have a poor 10-minute spell.
“Starting the game by getting our shape organised and making sure we’re on physically in the contact area – that won’t be everything, but it’ll be very important in the game,” said Baxter.
Exeter Chiefs:15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 1 Scott Sio, 2 Jack Yeandle, 3 Jimmy Roots, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Tom Hooper, 7 Ross Vintcent, 8 Greg Fisilau
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ethan Roots, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Paul Brown-Bampoe
