Chiefs side to face Warriors

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs will know later tonight if there LV= Cup aspirations are over for another year, but whatever the outcome from Sale's game against the Ospreys, assistant coach Ali Hepher insists there will be plenty to play for when his side tackle Worcester Warriors tomorrow at Sixways (3pm).

Heading into the last round of fixtures of this season's competition, the Chiefs trail Pool Two leaders Sale Sharks by a solitary point. That means should Steve Diamond's side claim maximum reward from their trek to Bridgend this evening, Exeter's hopes of advancing to the last four will be extinguished immediately.

That said, should the Sharks win in Wales - but not pick up a try-scoring bonus point - it will offer the Chiefs the chance to leapfrog them in the standings, providing they themselves pick up all five points against their Aviva Premiership counterparts.

Ahead of kick-off, Hepher is well aware of the various permutations for his team, but instead prefers to focus his thoughts on ensuring the Devon club produce a big performance in the Midlands, just a week before they return to crucial top flight action.

"It's a massive fixture for us and hopefully we've got something riding on it," said Hepher. "As always we'll look to attack the game and try and get out of the pool, but equally if there is nothing riding on it in terms of qualification, we will still use the game as a big preparation going into what is a very important Premiership block.

"We always say the Premiership is where we will be judged, so we need to build for what will be four very tough fixtures for us."

After tomorrow's tussle, the Chiefs resume Premiership action with successive home dates against Northampton Saints and Bath, before they travel to table-topping Saracens and then play host to London Irish.

And such is the importance of the preparation for that month ahead, the Chiefs are ready to parade a powerful line-up against the Warriors, who themselves have yet to claim a victory in the league this season.

Unlike last week where the Chiefs fielded a healthy mix of youth and experience for the 36-22 win over the Ospreys, the visitors are virtually at full-strength as they look to net a third successive Cup win in as many weeks.

"It's been great to see the young kids coming through," added Hepher. "They've been doing a great job and academy is going fantastic. Stu Townsend starting at nine last week had an influential performance; Max Bodilly, Jack Oulton and Tom Hendrickson (pictured) also did well and it was fantastic to see them out there and performing in the shirt. None of the guys let themselves down on the day, but equally they still have lots to learn.

"Right now it's an exciting period for the squad because we have so many big games coming up. Whether you are running with the first team or blooding young guys, it's exciting to see what happens. Our focus, though, is building for that Premiership block and part of that process is making sure we put in a big performance this weekend.

"Going to Worcester will be a tough ask as it's one of the toughest places to go in the Premiership. Crucially we've managed to nick a win the last couple of times we have been there in the dying seconds, but we're well aware it takes a big performance to get a result up there and that's what we will have to deliver at the weekend."


CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE WORCESTER WARRIORS

15 Luke Arscott
14 Matt Jess
13 Sireli Naqelevuki
12 Ian Whitten
11 Tom James
10 Gareth Steenson (capt)
9 Dave Lewis
1 Ben Moon
2 Jack Yeandle
3 Alex Brown
4 Romana Graham
5 Damian Welch
6 Ben White
7 James Scaysbrook
8 Kai Horstmann

16 Chris Whitehead
17 Carl Rimmer
18 Hoani Tui
19 Will Carrick-Smith
20 James Phillips
21 Haydn Thomas
22 Ceri Sweeney
23 Phil Dollman