Chiefs name side to face Gloucester

Having chopped and changed personnel for the first two fixtures in this year’s Westcountry Challenge Cup, Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter is promising a more settled approach for the final two games of the competition.

With Gloucester next on the agenda tomorrow at Bristol’s Memorial Ground (3pm), followed by Bath a week later at the Rec, Baxter hopes to use these subsequent away days as the ideal opportunity to ready his troops for the battles ahead.

Buoyed by home wins over both teams already in the new-look, three-team competition, Baxter is well aware the next two fixtures will offer a much more realistic feel to that he and his players are likely to experience during the course of the 2015/16 campaign.

The experimental changes, coupled with the blooding in of new players, will now be replaced with a more hardened approach from the Chiefs, who in the back of their mind will have one eye on their opening Aviva Premiership encounter away to Bath on October 17.

And ahead of kick-off, Baxter is true to his word that he will field a powerful line-up for the latest match-up against the Cherry & Whites, who themselves have named an equally strong team for the encounter.

With the exception of the seven Chiefs away on Rugby World Cup duty and Dave Ewers, who is nursing a small knock, it’s a virtually full-strength Exeter squad that will travel to the Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2010.

Chiefs supporters will remember the venue fondly as it was at the Bristol venue that the Devon club sealed their place into the Premiership.

Tomorrow’s skipper Gareth Steenson was one of the heroes that famous night and this weekend he will lead Exeter out against Gloucester as they look to maintain their unbeaten pre-season form.

Although content with large aspects of what he has seen so far from the opening two games in the Westcountry Challenge Cup, Baxter will be hoping some fine tuning on the training pitch these last few weeks will ensure the Chiefs hit the field in fine fettle.

“It’s a strong starting line-up this weekend and those guys will probably have the first crack at tying down their positions,” said Baxter.

“However, I do think there is still plenty of scope for change before we get back into the Premiership. It is still quite exciting for the guys in the squad – there is plenty to play for.

“If the starting XV go out and perform exceptionally well then they do give themselves a fantastic opportunity to make themselves front-runners for the start of the season. “At the same time, if they don’t do very well and the guys coming on excel then they obviously give themselves a chance for the number one spot.”