Team News: Chiefs Make Minimal Changes to Face Gloucester

Exeter Chiefs have selected their team to travel to Kingsholm Stadium in Round 15 of the Gallagher Premiership against Gloucester Rugby on Sunday afternoon.

A week on from running league-leaders Bath Rugby to the wire in a narrow two-point loss, Chiefs will be looking to get the better of Gloucester who also come into the encounter off the back of a defeat, to Saracens at the StoneX.

There are three changes to the starting line-up, two of which come in the forward pack.

The front row remains intact as Scott Sio, Jack Yeandle and Marcus Street all start. Rusi Tuima and match captain Dafydd Jenkins also retain their starting shirts in the second row.

In the back row, Ethan Roots returns from injury as Ross Vintcent rotates into the starting line-up. With both men on the flanks, Greg Fisilau holds strong at number eight.

Scrum half Niall Armstrong comes in to start in partnership with Harvey Skinner at fly half.

The remainder of the backline remains unchanged. Joe Hawkins and Henry Slade form the centre pairing with Paul Brown-Bampoe and Ben Hammersley on the wings, Josh Hodge at fullback.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter expects a strong challenge from this weekend’s hosts.

“I think the end of this season is a very important period for us in terms of how we grow and develop into next season.

“From this weekend’s game, I fully expect Gloucester to fly out the box and play the ball from all areas of the field. That’ll be one of the things they’ll have talked about this week, because they didn’t really get to play the way they wanted to play against Saracens.

“They’ll look at this game thinking, ‘whatever we do, let’s play like Gloucester against Exeter’. I would be very surprised if they change away from that game plan.”

On the bench, Max Norey and Kwenzo Blose are joined by Josh Iosefa-Scott to form the replacement front row. Richard Capstick and Jacques Vermeulen provide cover for the back five.

Stu Townsend returns to the matchday side with Will Haydon-Wood and Will Rigg also named on the bench.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Josh Hodge

14 Ben Hammersley

13 Henry Slade

12 Joe Hawkins

11 Paul Brown-Bampoe

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Niall Armstrong

1 Scott Sio

2 Jack Yeandle

3 Marcus Street

4 Rusi Tuima

5 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

6 Ethan Roots

7 Ross Vintcent

8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Max Norey

17 Kwenzo Blose

18 Josh Iosefa-Scott

19 Richard Capstick

20 Jacques Vermeulen

21 Stu Townsend

22 Will Haydon-Wood

23 Will Rigg