Team News: Chiefs Named to Host Hartpury in Prem Cup

Having topped Pool E in Round One with a large points haul against Cornish Pirates, Rob Baxter has made limited changes as Chiefs host Hartpury at Sandy Park.

The front row is unchanged as Will Goodrick-Clarke, Dan Frost and Ehren Painter brought power across the park last Friday night and are trusted to do so again this weekend.

Richard Capstick returns to the matchday side in the boiler room with Rusi Tuima. They are backed up by Ethan Roots, match captain Jacques Vermeulen and number eight Greg Fisilau in the back row.

The two Wills – Becconsall and Haydon-Wood – run out as the half-back duo. The news of the day is the debut of Tamati Tua. The centre signed in the summer but has been recovering from a neck injury since pre-season began. He partners last week’s brace-scorer, Will Rigg.

After a successful 80-minute performance on his return from injury last week, Tommy Wyatt starts again on the wing with Ben Hammersley rotating into the side and Josh Hodge comfortable at full back.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter hopes his side build from the positivity generated by last weekend’s result to perform strongly at home this week and kick start their season.

“I was very pleased with last weekend’s performance but what I actually enjoyed more was the reaction of the players. We’re looking to enjoy this period of training, playing and spending time together through this Premiership Cup competition.

“The expectation this weekend is that Hartpury will pose a little bit of a stiffer test than Cornish Pirates, just based purely on league position. Hartpury are a good side that have had good results recently, so we’re expecting a strong competition from them.

“That said, we should also have an expectation that we can go out there and play some good rugby and win the game.”

Jack Innard and Jimmy Roots are named on the bench for a second week. They are joined by Josh Iosefa-Scott who makes a switch to the loosehead berth. Lewis Pearson and Martin Moloney round out the forward replacements.

Paul Brown-Bampoe rotates to the bench to join Stu Townsend and Harvey Skinner.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Josh Hodge

14 Ben Hammersley

13 Will Rigg

12 Tamati Tua

11 Tommy Wyatt

10 Will Haydon-Wood

9 Will Becconsall

1 Will Goodrick-Clarke

2 Dan Frost

3 Ehren Painter

4 Rusi Tuima

5 Richard Capstick

6 Ethan Roots

7 Jacques Vermeulen (c)

8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Jack Innard

17 Josh Iosefa-Scott

18 Jimmy Roots

19 Lewis Pearson

20 Martin Moloney

21 Stu Townsend

22 Harvey Skinner

23 Paul Brown-Bampoe