Braves side to face Falcons

By Mark Stevens
25/4/2016

Ricky Pellow says Exeter Braves must use home advantage as the 'driving force' as they look to book themselves a place in the final of this season's Aviva Premiership A League.

Initially set for an away semi-final at Northampton this evening, the Braves were dealt a trump card a week ago when defending champions Saracens Storm suffered a surprise defeat away to Bristol United in their final Southern Group fixture.

That loss, coupled with Exeter's recent thumping off Wasps in their final outing, meant the Braves ended up topping the group, setting them up with a home semi-final against Newcastle Falcons tonight (7:30pm).

Now coach Pellow wants his side to make the most of the opportunity against the Falcons, who face a seven-hour train journey down for the game.

"At first we thought we were going to Northampton, but then Bristol turned over Saracens - which was a bit of a surprise - and all of sudden we have a home semi-final," said Pellow. "Now, though, we have to use that home advantage as a massive driving force for us.

"We have had a good week in terms of prep which we haven't usually had in terms of keeping the squad together, so we'll be well-organised.

"In the last few training days, the guys who played at Gloucester have come in and been really positive in helping the guys prepare for Monday night. It is the same when we prepare for games on a Saturday – the guys who aren't playing are always positive to the guys who are.

"That's probably been the hallmark of the squad this year – win or lose, it is a squad of 52 and everyone is behind each other and that is what has pushed us on."

Having won the A League crown back in 2012, Pellow is hoping this latest crop of players can replicate the feat and give the club a huge boost heading into this weekend's crunch Premiership encounter with Wasps at a packed Sandy Park.

"If you look at the squad we have, the strength in depth is very pleasing," added Pellow. "As a side we feel we can always win at home and had we been going away for the semi-final, we would still have gone there with lots of confidence.

"That said, we know Newcastle will be a really tough ask as they too have a very strong squad and they've shown that through their A League programme this season."

No.8 Kai Horstmann will again lead an experienced Braves side into action, lining up alongside the likes of Tom Johnson, Ben White, Haydn Thomas, Lewis Stevenson, Matt Jess (pictured) and Brett Sturgess.

With Sturgess set to depart Devon at the end of the season, Pellow feels it will be a fitting finale for the long-serving prop if he can bow out by helping the Braves secure silverware this season.

"Anyone who has been around our journey from the Championship to the Premiership, Brett has been a massive part of that," he said. "It would have been nice to go to Northampton and beat them away for him, but to finish with two more games and get a trophy before he leaves is something as coaches we are hoping we can do. I think the players are really pushing for it too.

"We haven't talked about Haydn Thomas, who has been in and around our squad and is going into a different role here at the club in terms of a playing role and a coaching role next year, so it will be a good thing for him too."

Season ticket holders, Gold Card and 1905 members can obtain FREE entry into tonight's game, which admission for all others is £10 for adults and £5 for Under-16s and students.
EXETER BRAVES SIDE TO FACE NEWCASTLE FALCONS

15 Chrysander Botha
14 Max Bodilly
13 Michele Campagnaro
12 Tom Hendrickson
11 Matt Jess
10 Will Hooley
9 Haydn Thomas
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Elvis Taione
3 Carl Rimmer
4 Ollie Atkins
5 Lewis Stevenson
6 Tom Johnson
7 Ben White
8 Kai Horstmann (capt)

16 Shaun Malton
17 Jake Woolmore
18 Alex Brown
19 Ed Holmes
20 Sam Simmonds
21 Stu Townsend
22 Byron McGuigan
23 Pete Laverick

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: Dan Marshall, Giovanbattista Venditti, Belisario Agulla, Juan Pablo Socino, Alesana Tuilagi, Brett Connon, Sonatane Takulua; Ben Harris, Scott Lawson (capt), Kensuke Hatakeyama, Will Witty, Harry Snowdon; Joshua Chisanga, Todd Clever, Ally Hogg.

REPLACEMENTS: David Nelson, Adam Brocklebank, Eric Fry, Seb Ferreira, Santiago Socino, Joe Craggs, Ruaridh Dawson, Adam Redman.