'We’ve got a good energy amongst the group and a good vibe' say Baxter
Exeter Chiefs head to Paris later to face French-side Racing 92 in the Challenge Cup
One week on from securing a bonus-point win in their EPCR Challenge Cup opener, Exeter Chiefs have named a rotated side to travel to France to face Racing 92.
Chiefs will kick-off at 2pm, UK time on Sunday afternoon at the Stade Dominique Duvauchelle with Lewis Pearson leading out the side as match captain.
Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “We’ve got guys who we need to give a mandatory break to but also, we’ve got a wider squad that we need to use if we’re going to have success across three different competitions.
“At the moment, we’ve got a good energy amongst the group and a good vibe. The important thing for us is that we go over to France with the expectation that we’ll take points away from the game. We want to perform from minute one and stay in the game.”
Loosehead prop Ethan Burger and hooker Julian Heaven return to the side to start in the front row with tighthead prop Jimmy Roots, who featured in last weekend’s win over Toyota Cheetahs.
Pearson partners with Rusi Tuima in the second row, a comfortable pairing for the two who have been playing together since they were teenagers in the Chiefs academy.
Kane James is promoted to the starting XV wearing the number eight shirt with Richard Capstick and Martin Moloney packing down on the flanks.
Scrum-half Charlie Chapman partners EPCR debutant Ben Coen at fly-half. Will Rigg and Harry Ascherl start together in the centre-field with another EPCR debut with Campbell Ridl on the wing. Dan John on the wing and Will Haydon-Wood at full-back round out the back three.
Baxter said: “I’m not going to try to predict Racing’s team, all I can do is make sure we’re focused on ourselves and what we need to do.
“We’ve discussed being ultra-competitive, playing in a way we think could make us successful against a big French team. If you’re competitive for long enough to then add energy from the bench, then you can create lots of opportunities to do well.”