Team news: Baxter names Chiefs side for record Sandy Park crowd

Rob Baxter has made four changes to his starting line-up for Chiefs’ Gallagher Premiership Round Nine clash against Leicester Tigers at Sandy Park on Saturday, December 23.

The selected matchday 23 will have the invaluable experience of playing in front of the largest crowd Sandy Park has ever welcomed through it’s stadium gates as the festive fixture is a complete sell-out.

In the front row, club captain Jack Yeandle returns to the side to start at hooker between Scott Sio at loosehead and Ehren Painter at tighthead. Rusi Tuima moves to the bench to accommodate Lewis Pearson in the second row alongside Dafydd Jenkins.

Ethan Roots returns from a week of rest to start on the blindside flank with Jacques Vermeulen at openside and Greg Fisilau at eight.

Tom Cairns and Harvey Skinner remain in place as the fly half duo. Henry Slade has an incredibly familiar face inside of him in the centre partnership as Ollie Devoto makes his first start of the Premiership season.

A strong performance off the bench against Munster last weekend earns Irishman Rory O’Loughlin a start alongside Ben Hammersley on the wings with Tommy Wyatt at fullback.

Head coach Ali Hepher says his side has celebrated the accomplishments of the past two weeks in Investec Champions Cup action but they are not taking the threat of Leicester Tigers lightly as they return to Premiership duty.

“To come through two games against the likes of Toulon and Munster in the past two weeks like we have has been great – it’s really good for the boys’ spirit and their confidence. As they’re such a young side, they don’t always believe how good they are at times.”

“This weekend we’ve got Leicester in front of a packed Sandy Park. They’re on the rise after the Rugby World Cup and getting their internationalists back involved. They’re changing their style slightly as well and have had a pick-up in performance.”

“The set piece battle is obviously going to be key. When we’re attacking, they have real threats to our ball on the floor, so we’ve got to be on point and make sure we’re smart in the way we approach things.”

“They’re a top quality side – the majority of those boys were champions a couple of years ago – so we’re under no illusions about the quality they’ll bring. What we’ve got to do is keep focusing on ourselves and make sure that we rise to the occasion, get excited, and put our best performance on the field.”

Dan Frost is named on the bench alongside Nika Abuladze and a returning Josh Iosefa-Scott as the replacement front row. Tuima is then joined by Ross Vintcent as the remaining pack cover.

The backline will then be able to call upon Stu Townsend, Joe Hawkins or Zack Wimbush, who could be in line for his Premiership debut.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Tommy Wyatt

14 Rory O’Loughlin

13 Henry Slade

12 Ollie Devoto

11 Ben Hammersley

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Tom Cairns

1 Scott Sio

2 Jack Yeandle

3 Ehren Painter

4 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

5 Lewis Pearson

6 Ethan Roots

7 Jacques Vermeulen

8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Dan Frost

17 Nika Abuladze

18 Josh Iosefa-Scott

19 Rusi Tuima

20 Ross Vintcent

21 Stu Townsend

22 Joe Hawkins

23 Zack Wimbush