Chiefs side to face Bath
By Mark Stevens
29/3/18
Ricky Pellow is confident his Exeter side can deliver the telling blows when the Chiefs come face-to-face with rivals Bath in tomorrow’s Anglo-Welsh Cup Final at Kingsholm (2:30pm).
With the two set to meet a fortnight ago – only for the ‘Beast from the East’ to put pay to that – the Westcountry counterparts locked horns last Friday night in the Aviva Premiership with the Chiefs emerging triumphant thanks to a late Joe Simmonds penalty.
Now, the pair are set for a third and final round of battle with the prize at stake being the first piece of major silverware on offer this season.
“We’re all really looking forward to the match,” said Pellow. “I know both teams will be fully prepared in terms of how they need to play, so now it’s about gluing it all together and putting in those emotional and physical attributes to win the game.
“Last Friday in the Premiership was obviously very pleasing from our perspective, but now this is another game and another opportunity for Bath to potentially turn us over and vice-versa.”
As expected, the Chiefs stick with a virtually unchanged line-up from that which was selected for the original final. Kai Horstmann will lead the team on his 100th appearance for the Devon club, but there is plenty of experience around him with the likes of Moray Low, Greg Holmes, Dave Dennis, Julian Salvi, Stuart Townsend, Ollie Devoto and Santiago Cordero amongst the starters.
“Throughout the competition we’ve looked to utilise the squad as a whole, so nothing has changed from that perspective,” added Pellow. “The guys who were in and around the last final selection will be involved again on Friday.
“What Bath put out last Friday against us and what they put out again this week, I don’t think it will change too much. Therefore, we know we can expect one hell of a game, so we need to be on our mettle and be ready for what they throw at us.
“Yes, it will be a strong Bath side that we’re up against, but equally we’re a very strong side and I know we’ve got a group of players selected who are really hungry to go out there and put in a performance for Exeter Chiefs.
Tomorrow’s final will mark the fourth time in as many years the Chiefs have reached the showpiece event. However, they have won only once – that was back in 2014 against Northampton Saints at Sandy Park – and Pellow admits he and his team are keen to address that statistic.
The Cornishman admits he and his players have learnt from past experiences and is confident they can produce the necessary performance to claim the Cup for a second time.
“We just have to stick to what we do,” continued Pellow. “In other finals, we’ve tended to make things bigger than it needed to be. Yes, it’s a massive day for the club and it’s a big game, but we just have to trust what we do will work on the day.
“In the past we’ve either gone behind or been in front and then tried to do something special and make things happen, when the reality is we didn’t really need to do that. We’ve talked a lot this week about that and said the special moments will happen if we focus on what we do. Then, if you add in the emotion and the physical endeavour, I’m confident that will be enough to get us over the line.”
Team news from that which was originally pencilled in to face Bath a fortnight ago sees Joe Simmonds given the nod at fly-half over Gareth Steenson, while on the bench Shaun Malton has recovered from a groin injury and offers back up to Jack Innard at hooker.
CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE BATH
15 Santiago Cordero
14 Tom O’Flaherty
13 Tom Hendrickson
12 Ollie Devoto
11 James Short
10 Joe Simmonds
9 Stuart Townsend
1 Moray Low
2 Jack Innard
3 Greg Holmes
4 Toby Salmon
5 Dave Dennis
6 Matt Kvesic
7 Julian Salvi
8 Kai Horstmann
16 Shaun Malton
17 James Kenny
18 Jack Owlett
19 Wilhelm Van der Sluys
20 James Freeman
21 Joe Snow
22 Gareth Steenson
23 Harry Strong