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Nowell, Slade and Devoto start as Exeter look to 'put to bed' disappointment
Exeter Chiefs have named a side with more than a sprinkling of stardust as Rob Baxter’s men look to ‘put to bed’ the disappointment of the previous season’s heartbreaking denouement in Twickenham.
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While they’re shorn of their Lions’ contingent, the side includes the likes of Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Ollie Devoto, who all start as the Chiefs head to Welford Road to face the Tigers and a full house of avid supporters in the stadium.
There is also the prospect of a debut for highly-rated Welsh forward Christ Tshiunza. The 6’6, 113kg forward can cover both the second and back rows.
“We’re looking forward to it,” said Baxter. “Sometimes you just have to get on with stuff. It feels a long time since losing the final – and when the last game you play you lose, you are always going to be disappointed. Now, we’re ready to get back and start playing again.
“We’ve talked about things, including the final, and we’ve set ourselves some simple targets, not just about what we want from this weekend’s game, but what we want from the next four games. We won’t look too far ahead of that, but what I do expect this weekend is a good, typical, hard-working Exeter Chiefs performance.”
Baxter is eager to lay to rest the ghosts of a season which saw the title wrestled from their grasp by Premiership underdogs Harlequins.
“Personally, I need to put the end of last season to bed a little,” added the Chiefs’ Director of Rugby. “And I will talk to the players this week and tell them we need to now leave that behind us and move on.
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“For all of us, it’s important to have motivations – I will have them in all kinds of different ways – and the players will also have them in their own ways. What we need to do is zone down what all of that looks like; how we achieve it; and how we will start that against Leicester this weekend.”
The Chiefs are also wary of the task of surmounting Tigers in front of a full house of fans in the notoriously partisan rugby hotbed.
“Going to empty grounds during the whole lockdown period was odd, but I think Leicester was probably the most-strangest, just because you are so used to going there and experiencing a full house and a very partisan crowd,” said Baxter.
“Looking to this weekend, I think it’s a great challenge for us, not just because we will be challenged by the place itself, but also by a team who are clearly looking to be ambitious and do things themselves this season. In a lot of ways, I think it’s just what we need first up.
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“Leicester, we know, are a top side. Looking at them this week, they look solid and they looked well-drilled. That said, we don’t quite know what they will bring. With the new laws, the fact there is no relegation this season, I don’t think any of us know what type of rugby that will create.
“For us, all we can really do at this stage is concentrate on ourselves, make sure we get our bits and pieces in order and really go out and work hard in what will be a tough game of Premiership rugby. If we win, then we will have deserved to win. If we don’t, it’s probably because we haven’t deserved to win.”
There could also be debuts from the bench for Sam Nixon and Australian lock Ryan McCauley.
EXETER CHIEFS TEAM:
15 Josh Hodge
14 Jack Nowell
13 Henry Slade
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Tom O’Flaherty
10 Joe Simmonds
9 Jack Maunder
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Jack Innard
3 Harry Williams
4 Will Witty
5 Sean Lonsdale
6 Jannes Kirsten
7 Don Armand
8 Rus Tuima
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Jack Yeandle
17 Ben Moon
18 Sam Nixon
19 Ryan McCauley
20 Christ Tshiunza
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Harvey Skinner
23 Tom Hendrickson
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments