Team news: Bishop rotates squad ahead of trip to Sale

Exeter Chiefs Women’s head coach Oli Bishop has rotated his squad to give opportunities to more players as they head into the third round of the JAECOO Next Gen Cup against Sale Sharks Women.

The team will take the long journey north on Saturday for a 14:00 kick-off at the Morson Stadium.

The front row has been altered with best-friend duo prop Hannah Sams and Kayleigh Priest starting the game alongside Alessia Skeates.

Sams missed most of last season with different injuries but played the second half of last weekend’s win over Leicester Tigers Women.

Priest, who had a busy summer with the community department, gets her chance this weekend with Carys Phillips rotated to the bench.

In the backs, Merryn Elworthy has reverted to full-back with Liv McGoverne back at fly-half and the centre berths given over to last weekend’s hat-trick scorer Danielle Preece and Naomi Brennan. Lucy Nye will also start at scrum-half after being unavailable for selection last Sunday.

Bishop said: “I was really happy with the first game of the season. The girls showed real vison and bravery as well as high levels of fundamental skills to be able to create the opportunities we had out on the pitch. The first half was tough, so it was good to see the grit and determination from the girls, but a couple of tweaks at half-time really allowed us to show ourselves and to get eight tries in the second half.

“Cohesively, our seven debutants looked really strong within the rest of the side. I think that happens when you use pathway players who have come up though and have already played with the team before. Seeing a lot of them score on debut was brilliant too.”

On selection, Bishop added: “There is bit of change this week because we want to give people an opportunity in the cup phase. It’s about building our foundations and giving players the opportunity to grow.

“This is a team that had quite a lot of cohesion among it as even though some of these players have not played together this season, they have played quite a lot of rugby together in the past. We think this is a good combination for what we need to do when we go up to Sale.

“With Sale, power and physicality are going to be a huge part of the game. In defence, they like to double-tackle to slow down our ball as well as being menaces at the breakdown.

“In attack, they like to run a little bit more than most teams, as well as kick to compete. Athletically, they have got some really talented backs and we know they have got a lot of speed. The squad we have selected this weekend includes an experienced back-three to help combat the threats that they have in those wide channels.”

Sale Sharks Women v Exeter Chiefs Women kicks off at the Morson Stadium at 14:00 tomorrow. Live updates will be available from our match centre here.

Exeter Chiefs Women

15 Merryn Elworthy (vc)
14 Eilidh Sinclair
13 Danielle Preece
12 Naomi Brennan
11 Deborah Wills
10 Liv McGoverne
9 Lucy Nye
1 Hannah Sams
2 Kayleigh Priest
3 Alessia Skeates
4 Lola Whitley
5 Kate Smith
6 Emily Robinson (c)
7 Zoë Dare
8 Gabriella Nigrelli

16 Carys Phillips
17 Lilly Plowman
18 Amelia Lambourn
19 Izzy Newnes- Smith
20 Ellie Wood
21 Tilly Ryall
22 Frankie Welsher
23 Gabby Cantorna