Exeter's Salvin turns to surprise face to provide Maddie Feaunati cover

Exeter Chiefs head coach Steve Salvin has turned to Canada tighthead DaLeaka Menin to solve the club’s No.8 conundrum.

With England Red Roses international Maddie Feaunati missing from the Premiership Women’s Rugby clash with Bristol Bears at Shaftesbury Park due to a knee injury, tighthead prop Menin gets the nod in the back-row alongside team captain Emily Robinson and vice-captain Maisy Allen.

“We’ve gone a little bit left field with Maddie’s replacement, and we’ve put DaLeaka Menin at No 8,” Salvin said. “We just think if we can implement DaLeaka’s carry game off the back of the scrum, in the same way she does when she’s playing tighthead and then having a tighthead of Amy Rule’s calibre in that number three shirt, that is quite an exciting prospect.

“There’s obviously a little bit of jeopardy and a little bit of risk attached to that, but we do feel fully confident that we’ll see a very typical DaLeaka performance, which invariably means a lot of carry metres. We’re excited to see how that goes.”

Across her career Menin has formed a formidable reputation as a strong ball carrier. The 30-year-old, put simply, munches through metres with ball in hand and is a formidable defender too.

So far this season in PWR, Menin has scored six tries, carried the ball 107 times, made 294 post contact metres and made 84 tackles.

The 30-year-old is not the only player out of position this weekend. Loughborough Lightning centre Alev Kelter will pack down at blindside flanker for her team’s must-win encounter with Saracens on Sunday.

Menin is not the only player out of position in the Exeter starting line-up. Merryn Elworthy (née Doidge) gets a start at fly-half with Liv McGoverne out with an ankle sprain.

Bristol have also made a series of changes for the Round 17 clash. This includes a debut for Millie Hyett at fly-half after the departure of Black Ferns playmaker Ruahei Demant and the injury of Scotland international Meryl Smith.

Across her senior career to date, Hyett has largely been utilised at outside centre. A fly-half before making her PWR debut for Gloucester Hartpury three years ago, the England U21 international completed a midseason move to Bristol in March. She will be partnered by Wales scrum-half Keira Bevan.

Red Roses tighthead prop Sarah Bern captains the side, while fellow England internationals Delaney Burns, Christiana Balogun and Demelza Short all start.

Fresh from signing a new deals with Bears, Simi Pam starts at loosehead prop and Scotland international Hollie Cunningham is named among the replacements. Alisha Joyce will make her first appearance for Bristol since returning from maternity leave.

Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs

Bristol Bears: Jenny Hesketh, Reneeqa Bonner, Ella Lovibond, Jenna De Vera, Millie David, Millie Hyett, Keira Bevan; Simi Pam, Amy Dale, Sarah Bern (c), Christiana Balogun, Delaney Burns, Demelza Short, Jenny Herring, Rownita Marston-Mulhearn

Replacements: Jess Sprague, Maisie Davies, Elliann Clarke, Hollie Cunningham, Pamphinette Buisa, Alisha Joyce, Rhea Clarke, Chloe Daniels

Exeter Chiefs: Sabrina Poulin, Katie Buchanan, Alex Tessier, Nancy McGillivray, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, Merryn Elworthy, Flo Robinson; Hope Rogers, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Amy Rule, Linde van der Velden, Dorothy Wall, Emily Robinson (c), Maisy Allen, DaLeaka Menin

Replacements: Emily Tuttosi, Demi Swann, Abby Duguid, Gabriella Nigrelli, Zoë Dare, Lucy Nye. Naomi Brennan, Francesca Granzotto