1
Exeter roll back the years with their Slade positional switch
Playoff-chasing Exeter have turned the clock back five years regarding Henry Slade and the role the England midfielder will play in this Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership match at arch-rivals Saracens. With just three matches remaining, the fourth-place Chiefs are in must-win territory if they are to keep alive their prospects of reaching the semi-finals.
ADVERTISEMENT
Exeter have progressed to the last six successive league finals, lifting the title twice, but they have rolled the dice ahead of Sunday’s visit to London as they have named Slade at out-half and demoted Joe Simmonds, their double-winning skipper of 2020, to the bench.
The form this season of Simmonds for Exeter hasn’t been great. He said as much in a recent interview with RugbyPass and having failed to catch fire in last weekend’s European loss at Munster, he now drops to the replacements to accommodate the bold move of Rob Baxter regarding Slade.
Not since an April 2017 win at Harlequins has Slade, the regular Exeter outside centre, been chosen as their starting No10 but that five-year gap will end back in London with the Chiefs looking for an invaluable win over Saracens.
With Slade moving in from the midfield and Simmonds benched, Tom Hendrickson will start at inside centre and Ian Whitten, last Saturday’s No12 in Limerick, will move out and fill Slade’s outside centre berth. In the pack, Marcus Street will start at tighthead for Harry Williams while Richard Capstick is in the back row for Dave Ewers.
Saracens, meanwhile, have made eight changes following their progress to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals with last Sunday’s win over Cardiff. Six are in a pack where Maro Itoje has been rested. Eroni Mawi for Richard Barrington, Jamie George for Kapeli Pifeleti and Vincent Koch for Alec Clarey mean an entirely different front row, Nick Isiekwe is in at lock for Itoje, while the back row sees Theo McFarland come in for Andy Christie and Billy Vunipola take over from Jackson Wray.
In the backs, the changes are Nick Tompkins for Duncan Taylor and Elliot Daly for Dom Morris. “We have had really good preparation leading into it and I’m sure they [Exeter] have had the same,” said Saracens hooker George. “They are a team we respect massively and a team we also love playing against because it brings the best out of both sides.”
ADVERTISEMENT
SARACENS: 15. Alex Goode; 14. Max Malins, 13. Elliot Daly, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Sean Maitland; 10. Owen Farrell (capt), 9. Aled Davies; 1. Eroni Mawi, 2. Jamie George, 3. Vincent Koch, 4. Nick Isiekwe, 5. Tim Swinson, 6. Theo McFarland, 7. Ben Earl. 8. Billy Vunipola. Reps: 16. Kapeli Pifeleti, 17. Richard Barrington, 18. Alec Clarey, 19. Jackson Wray, 20. Andy Christie, 21. Ivan van Zyl, 22. Duncan Taylor, 23. Alex Lewington.
EXETER: 15. Stuart Hogg; 14. Olly Woodburn, 13. Ian Whitten, 12. Tom Hendrickson, 11. Tom O’Flaherty; 10. Henry Slade, 9. Sam Maunder; 1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Jack Yeandle (capt), 3. Marcus Street, 4. Jonny Gray, 5. Sam Skinner, 6. Jannes Kirsten, 7. Richard Capstick, 8. Jacques Vermeulen. Reps: 16. Jack Innard, 17. Billy Keast, 18. Patrick Schickerling, 19. Dafydd Jenkins, 20. Santiago Grondona, 21. Stu Townsend, 22. Joe Simmonds, 23. Josh Hodge.
Comments on RugbyPass
This sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
12 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
12 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
12 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
12 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
12 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
12 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to comments