Chiefs side to face Munster
By Mark Stevens
24/8/18
Exeter Chiefs will be looking to crank up their preparations for the new campaign when they face Munster in their final run-out of pre-season in Cork this evening (7:30pm).
After last weekend’s double-header against the Cornish Pirates and Cardiff Blues, games in which a great number of Rob Baxter’s side got decent game minutes into them, the Gallagher Premiership outfit will be looking to fine tune their game plan against the Irish province.
Baxter has sent over a powerful squad for the fixture, which will mark the first of three games the two clubs will face this season, having been drawn together in Pool 2 of this season’s Heineken Champions Cup.
Looking ahead to the clash at Independence Park, forwards coach Rob Hunter underlined the importance of making the most of the game.
“There comes a point where you can only do so much training,” he said. “Having the double-header last weekend was ideal, not just because we were able to get a lot of minutes into a lot of players, but it allowed us to address some of the not so good issues before they become problems.
“There were lots of good things to come out of both games, but when we sat down on Monday we were able to show some very good comparisons between the two games.
“Munster, we know, will be a good test for us.They are a great European side and although we’re not at Thomond Park this time, that’s kind of good because it will make it special when we go there in Europe. It’s an iconic rugby place, a great experience, but this will be a good way for us to finish off pre-season and then go full steam into Leicester next week.”
The Chiefs kicked-off their pre-season programme with a 29-21 defeat against the Pirates, but 24 hours later a different Exeter line-up was able to see off the Blues 38-10 at Sandy Park.
“On Friday we weren’t quite there in terms of intensity and it highlighted a few areas that we’ve been able to talk about this week,” added Hunter. “Cardiff, the following day, we cranked things up, and it was a real step up in terms of quality and what we wanted.
“This weekend [against Munster] it will be different again. We’ll be looking for another step up in intensity and for the guys to really stretch themselves against tough opposition.”
With Leicester Tigers to follow next week in the opening fixture of this season’s Gallagher Premiership, Hunter says places within that match-day squad are still very much ‘up for grabs’ and the coaches will be looking for players to deliver tonight.
“There comes a point where you can only do so much training, you need to start playing games to look at things and how players are performing,” said Hunter. “We’ve seen some good stuff so far, but things have to crank up a bit now.
“Some of the guys have come back in looking very sharp, very hungry and that’s helped to really drive standards through pre-season.Guys like Ollie Atkins, Ollie Devoto, Matt Kvesic, they didn’t play a huge amount towards the end of last season, but they’ve come in and shown what they are all about.”
All three start this evening, as do Irishmen Gareth Steenson and Ian Whitten. Captain Jack Yeandle leads the side into battle, where he will be joined in the front-row by England internationals Alec Hepburn and Harry Williams. Behind the pack, Santiago Cordero – impressive against the Pirates – helps form a back-three trio alongside Phil Dollman and Olly Woodburn.
EXETER CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE MUNSTER
15 Phil Dollman
14 Santiago Cordero
13 Ian Whitten
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Olly Woodburn
10 Gareth Steenson
9 Nic White
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Jack Yeandle (capt)
3 Harry Williams
4 Ollie Atkins
5 Sam Skinner
6 Don Armand
7 Matt Kvesic
8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements (from): Moray Low, Jack Innard, Elvis Taione, Alfie Petch, Tomas Francis, Toby Salmon, Sean Lonsdale, Tom Lawday, Stu Townsend, Jack Maunder, Joe Simmonds, Henry Slade, Tom Hendrickson, Tom O’Flaherty, Max Bodilly.