Team News: Chiefs Named for Friday Night Lights in Ulster

Exeter Chiefs have named their side to travel to the Kingspan Stadium to take on Ulster Rugby on Friday night in Round Four of the Investec Champions Cup.

Both Chiefs and Ulster are yet to secure a win in the competition this season, so a result in this fixture could be key for both sides. In the Chiefs ranks, there are 12 changes to the starting line-up from last weekend’s game against Bordeaux Begles at Sandy Park.

Those changes begin in the front row as loosehead prop Will Goodrick-Clarke and hooker Jack Innard – handed the captain’s armband for the fixture – come in to start with Josh Iosefa-Scott at tighthead.

Rusi Tuima partners Christ Tshiunza in the second row in a week when Tshiunza was announced in the Welsh 2025 Guinness Six Nations squad.

Martin Moloney is recalled from his loan to Cornish Pirates to start on the blindside flank with Richard Capstick at openside and Italy’s Ross Vintcent as the eightman.

A young and exciting half-back pairing is formed by Ulsterman Niall Armstrong at scrum half and Will Haydon-Wood at fly half. There is a return to the matchday side for Joe Hawkins in the centerfield as he lines up alongside Will Rigg.

One week on from his try-scoring competition debut, Paul Brown-Bampoe is joined in the back three by Ben Hammersley and Harvey Skinner in the full-back shirt.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter thinks this weekend could be a great challenge for his squad, especially with the outside shot of a Challenge Cup knockout berth being secured.

“Following the Bordeaux result last weekend, this week we tried to speak to players very openly about everything as the reality is, it was a tough day. We wanted to make sure it didn’t create a divide in the group as the single most important thing right now is that we stay together as a group.

“Where we are now in the season, every game is important so we’re expecting this game against Ulster to give our players another chance to test themselves. The lads got themselves back on track in training this week very quickly and they look excited by the prospect of this game.

“We’re going to try to drive our performance on the field in Ulster. When you’re losing, you can get focused on ‘when will the win come’ and you can forget to actually play the games. So, we’ve got simple targets for this week to just play and try to implement our game plan.

“Ulster are, in some ways, a little like us in that they’re going through a bit of a rebuilding process. They’re introducing some young players and that can have some teething problems. They’ve seen the tough parts of this competition like we have, but they’re at home on a Friday night in Belfast so it’s going to be a challenge.”

Max Norey leads the forwards on the bench as props Kwenzo Blose and Jimmy Roots help the hooker to form the replacement front row. Chiefs go for a 6-2 split as they name three additional forwards – Jack Dunne, Lewis Pearson and Joe Bailey.

England U20s World Championship winner Bailey could make his Investec Champions Cup debut if brought onto the field.

Tom Cairns and Zack Wimbush are named as the backs on the bench.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Harvey Skinner

14 Ben Hammersley

13 Joe Hawkins

12 Will Rigg

11 Paul Brown-Bampoe

10 Will Haydon-Wood

9 Niall Armstrong

1 Will Goodrick-Clarke

2 Jack Innard (c)

3 Josh Iosefa-Scott

4 Rusi Tuima

5 Christ Tshiunza

6 Martin Moloney

7 Richard Capstick

8 Ross Vintcent

Replacements:

16 Max Norey

17 Kwenzo Blose

18 Jimmy Roots

19 Jack Dunne

20 Lewis Pearson

21 Joe Bailey

22 Tom Cairns

23 Zack Wimbush