Team News: Chiefs Named for Prem Cup Visit to Hartpury

After a win against Saracens last weekend before a near two-month hiatus in the Gallagher Premiership, Rob Baxter has named his Chiefs side to travel to Hartpury this Saturday.

Hartpury come into the Premiership Rugby Cup clash following a disappointing result against London Scottish in the capital last weekend in their 12th round of Championship action.

With his internationals now away on Guinness Men’s Six Nations duty, Baxter makes some rotations amongst his squad for the fourth round of Cup competition.

Scott Sio captains this week’s side from loosehead prop with Dan Frost and Josh Iosefa-Scott at hooker and tighthead prop.

Rusi Tuima and Franco Molina form the lock pairing while Lewis Pearson comes into the starting line-up on the flank with Ethan Roots and Greg Fisilau rounding out the back row.

Tom Cairns and Harvey Skinner reform the half-back pairing that started the majority of games last season while Will Rigg and Joe Hawkins continue as the centre combination.

After a man of the match performance against Saracens, Tommy Wyatt keeps his full-back shirt with Zack Wimbush coming into the side on the wing with Paul Brown-Bampoe.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter sees this second block of Premiership Cup pool matches as an exciting prospect for his Chiefs squad.

“We’re a team that needs games and needs experiences. For me, going to Hartpury is one of those great rugby experiences. It’s different to the Premiership, you learn things about yourself, and you learn things about the players, the team. These are all things that we need to embrace.

“This Premiership Cup block is an important period for us. The big thing for me is that we want to do well in the competition as we want to keep playing games.

“This weekend will, without doubt, be a test. We’re going into this game really focused on what we want to achieve. The weather is likely to be challenging, and the pitch could be softer than a lot of the lads are used to playing on, but those are all great learning experiences and opportunities.”

With Jack Innard undergoing observation with the Chiefs medical team, Max Norey is named as the replacement hooker with Kwenzo Blose and Jimmy Roots the props on the bench.

Jack Dunne and Martin Moloney provide cover for the back five of the scrum.

Niall Armstrong rotates back into a bench spot this week with Will Haydon-Wood and Tamati Tua the additional back-line replacement options.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Tommy Wyatt

14 Zack Wimbush

13 Joe Hawkins

12 Will Rigg

11 Paul Brown-Bampoe

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Tom Cairns

1 Scott Sio (c)

2 Dan Frost

3 Josh Iosefa-Scott

4 Rusi Tuima

5 Franco Molina

6 Ethan Roots

7 Lewis Pearson

8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Max Norey

17 Kwenzo Blose

18 Jimmy Roots

19 Jack Dunne

20 Martin Moloney

21 Niall Armstrong

22 Will Haydon-Wood

23 Tamati Tua