Chiefs side to face Bristol Bears

It will be near enough four months since Exeter Chiefs last took to the field for a game of rugby, and with a summer that has seen several of the club’s stalwart players departing for pastures new, the first team sheet of the 23/24 season has been hotly anticipated by fans with a new dawn rising in Devon.

The test, against a Bristol Bears side who themselves have a seen a number of high-profile stars leaving the West Country, will prove an interesting opportunity for Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter to see what sort of shape his charges are in, with the Premiership Cup competition looming just around the corner.

As with all Pre-Season friendlies, this is a chance for both sides to explore combinations, assess some of the key focus points that have been emphasised during the gruelling pre-season, and gauge the readiness of their team for what is always a long and challenging Premiership & European campaign.

For this opening fixture, Rob Baxter and his team have graced the world with not one, but two team sheets, with each side getting the opportunity at forty minutes of rugby, and the Chiefs DoR, is heading into the match with obvious excitement and anticipation.

“It feels very much like a start of an adventure in a lot of ways, I’m looking forward to watching the game, and I’m also looking forward to re-watching the game and assessing where the individual players are and getting the opportunity as a group of coaches to sit down and work with them to talk about where we can go forward.

“I’m really excited about it, more excited about it than I have been in a little while, certainly in a different way.”

“I’ll say to the lads on Friday that there will be some of them sat in the changing room, who will be some of the people who will lift Exeter’s next major trophy and that’s the opportunity you get, that should be incredibly exciting for all of them.”

There is no doubt that the squad has a new feel, with plenty of players looking to lay down a marker and set out their stall early ahead of the new campaign.

Overall we’re talking about having an energy and an excitement and a pace about the way that we play, we want to keep things fast and enjoyable. We want it to be exciting for people; we’re very aware that we want big crowds to come through here, and part of that is the style that we play but I’m a big believer that supporters want to come and watch guys that are fully committed to what they do.”

Commitment won’t be the only thing that fans will be judging Baxter and this new look Chiefs side on, but there is no denying the enormous excitement brewing within Sandy Park. The foundations of a team that can challenge at the very top of the game are forming and with so much young talent keen to throw themselves into the fray, there is no doubt that fans are in for a fun filled rollercoaster ride this coming season.

It all begins on Friday Night, at Ashton Gate.