EXETER CHIEFS starting XV vs La Rochelle
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- Last Updated on Friday, 09 January 2015 13:36
- Published on Wednesday, 03 December 2014 12:53
Head coach Rob Baxter believes Exeter Chiefs' European Challenge Cup encounter at La Rochelle could prove to be a defining game in pool two.
Sitting top after the opening two rounds, the Chiefs will be looking to record only their second-ever victory on French soil when they tackle Patrice Collazo’s side at the Stade Marcel Deflandre.
Saturday match-winner Gareth Steenson skippers the side from the fly-half berth, while Luke Cowan-Dickie, Moray Low, Dave Ewers and Matt Jess also retain their starting places following the 27-19 Premiership win over Saracens.
The rest of the side is packed with a hungry mix of talent and experience, all of whom will be keen to make the most of the opportunity afforded to them by the Chiefs coaching team.
“I think we’re quite excited about it because there will be opportunities for guys who maybe have been a little unfortunate not to play more rugby over the past couple of weeks,” said Baxter. “I’m thinking of guys like Ben White, who was outstanding against Northampton [in last month’s 24-18 away win] but who has not featured in our last two wins.
“We’ve also got a few backs who are very good players but have not had a lot of game-time, players like Tom James, Adam Hughes, Fetu’u Vainikolo and Byron McGuigan.
“Mitch Lees is back and up and running as well, so we’ve got quite a lot of strength in depth at the moment. Seeing how those guys mix in with the rest of the players over the next couple of weeks will be very important for us going forward.”
Exeter Chiefs starting 15 Byron McGuigan 14 Matt Jess 13 Adam Hughes 12 Ian Whitten 11 Tom James 10 Gareth Steenson (capt) 9 Haydn Thomas 1 Brett Sturgess 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie 3 Moray Low 4 Mitch Lees 5 Ryan Caldwell 6 Dave Ewers 7 Ben White 8 Kai Horstmann
Ready on the bench 16 Greg Bateman 17 Carl Rimmer 18 Alex Brown 19 Dean Mumm 20 James Scaysbrook 21 Dave Lewis 22 Ceri Sweeney 23 Fetu’u Vainikolo
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