Team News: Chiefs Named for Pre-Christmas Sale Clash

Exeter Chiefs have selected their team to take on a confident Sale Sharks side at the Salford Community Stadium on Saturday in a pre-Christmas Gallagher Premiership encounter.

The teams return to domestic action following two weeks of European competition. A strong performance saw Sale overcome former Champions, Racing 92 in Round Two last weekend while Chiefs fell to defeat against Toulouse at Sandy Park.

A handful of changes are made for this encounter as Chiefs look for a powerful performance to rejuvenate their Premiership form as they prepare to enter the New Year.

In the front row, Dan Frost retains his place from a physical encounter against the Frenchmen while Scott Sio and Marcus Street return to the side at loosehead and tighthead.

Having made his highly anticipated return from injury last weekend, Dafydd Jenkins slots into the starting line-up as match captain. Fellow international Franco Molina joins him in the boiler room of the second row.

Ethan Roots starts at blindside flanker with Ross Vintcent moving to the openside to accommodate Greg Fisilau starting at number eight.

Stu Townsend and Henry Slade look to develop on their chemistry as a half-back duo in the 9 and 10 shirts. Meanwhile, Tamati Tua and Ben Hammersley are the centre pairing for a second week.

In the back three, Tommy Wyatt drops back to cover full-back as Olly Woodburn makes his return from a short-term hamstring injury to start on the wing with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter says his squad will not shy away from the challenge of securing results as they return to league action.

“The reality is that going to Sale at any point in the season is always going to be tough. We’ve had some good results there and some not so good results there, but we’ve just got to get on with things.

“We need games of rugby – we need to play and grow as a side. Games will make us better, they won’t make us worse, so we’ve got to approach it in that kind of way.

“We’re not sitting here thinking we’re miles off because we’ve just had a bit of a lesson from Toulouse, it doesn’t feel like that. We have to go to Sale and try to be a very competitive Premiership team – that’s what you have to do every week.

“This weekend, we’re going fully loaded. We’re not thinking about Gloucester the week after and a chance to get a win at home – we’re not approaching things that way. We’re going to go after everything game by game, as that’s how we’ll get better and give ourselves the best chance to create a strong group of players to form the best team we can for the future.”

A week on from his Investec Champions Cup debut, Kwenzo Blose is named in the replacement front row with Jack Innard and Jimmy Roots. The second and back row could then be bolstered by Richard Capstick and Jacques Vermeulen.

Two Will’s – Becconsall and Haydon-Wood – join Josh Hodge in waiting to be called upon for the back-line.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Tommy Wyatt

14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

13 Ben Hammersley

12 Tamati Tua

11 Olly Woodburn

10 Henry Slade

9 Stu Townsend

1 Scott Sio

2 Dan Frost

3 Marcus Street

4 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

5 Franco Molina

6 Ethan Roots

7 Ross Vintcent

8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Jack Innard

17 Kwenzo Blose

18 Jimmy Roots

19 Richard Capstick

20 Jacques Vermeulen

21 Will Becconsall

22 Will Haydon-Wood

23 Josh Hodge