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Exeter Chiefs to unleash one of the most potent PREM backlines ever


Immanuel Feyi-Waboso of Exeter Chiefs shakes hands with Dave Walder, Assistant Coach, prior to the Gallagher PREM match between Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on September 28, 2025 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)
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Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter looks set to unleash one of the most potent backlines the Premiership has ever seen when Harlequins visit Sandy Park on Sunday.

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Last week, Baxter said that Wallaby inside centre Len Ikitau was likely to make his debut against the London side, who picked up their first win of the season against Saracens on Sunday afternoon.

With England ace Henry Slade at outside centre and the explosive pace of Manny Fey-Waboso and Paul Brown-Bampoe on the wings, it promises to be devastating if everything clicks into place.

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Slade, who scored his first try of the season in the defeat at Bristol Bears on Saturday, believes it’s a backline that could live long in the memory and be one of the best the club has seen since they were promoted to the top flight.

“It is up there. Obviously, we have had some incredible players that have left and gone on. At one point, potentially to have all that talent in one backline at one time is really exciting, and hopefully it will bring people to come and watch.

Fixture
Gallagher Premiership
Exeter Chiefs
38 - 0
Full-time
Harlequins
All Stats and Data

“Even before Len got here, I have been really excited to play with Manny and Paul on the same pitch, and those boys have hit the ground running.

“Manny has got five tries, and Paul has been beating people for fun. You add Len, and there is an excitement and a buzz for him. It feels like if we can all stay fit, we will have a good go.

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“Len is probably going to be away in the autumn, I guess, so we want to use the time we have got now to gel as much as we can.

“Use the time we have got in training and early on the pitch at weekends to make sure we are hitting the pitch with what we want to bring,” he said.

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NoLongerARuck 7 minutes ago
Rugby's Greatest Rivalry deep dive - what has happened to the All Blacks’ scrum?

Alot of people have talked about how the AB's are making progress and getting closer to the Boks. Its also important to ask where the net gain has been. In 4 games under Razor the AB's attack failed dismally and struggled to score tries. The Boks outscored them comprehensively. Even so the All Blacks led for long periods in Joburg and Cape Town in 24. They lost each game by one score. They led all the way in Auckland and led for a quarter of the match in Wellington. Razors team always lost control in the final quarter of matches against the boks where the Boks bench completely overpowered them.

Under Rennie the AB's have scored plenty of tries, more than the Boks, they have rediscovered their attacking threat but they have regressed in other areas. Their scrum has totally capitulated, their lineout has been hammered, they are turning the ball over more at break down and in the tackle. They are making mistakes within their attacking template that has cost them and presented the Boks opportunities and so their defence has suffered with the Boks making hay in the last 3 games outscoring them in terms of tries and pts during that period. They have conceded 2 and 3 score leads in the last 3 matches heading into the final quarter. At Cape Town it was 16 points, Soweto 12 pts and in the US 15 pts. The Boks established control of Rennies team earlier and led for longer with AB's forced to chase games. They won the second half in Ellis Park comprehensively and the final quarters in the next 2 matches matches but little else illustrating the lack of control for the AB's.



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