Team news: Chiefs name side for play-off at The Rec

Exeter Chiefs have named their side to take on Bath Rugby in the second Gallagher PREM play-off on Saturday afternoon.

The battle for a spot in the Prem final at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, comes just one month after the two faced off at Sandy Park in round 15 of the regular season.

Chiefs are boosted by the return of Greg Fisilau to the back-row, while the league’s top points scorer Henry Slade will start in the midfield at The Recreation Ground.

Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “We looked resilient and strong last weekend against Saracens, so that is good prep for Bath because it’s going to be even more emotionally-charged this weekend.

“This will be a unique experience even for me because we’ve been in plenty of Prem semi-finals, but never away from home, so it’ll be another interesting challenge for us.

“Bath are a quality side. They’re not second in the table and got to the Investec Champions Cup knockouts for no reason. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’re in the final four of the Prem, so it was always going to be tough.

“We’ve got to prepare to show the best of ourselves, because you can always walk away from any game well if you’ve done that.”

A week on from making his final run-out at Sandy Park, Scott Sio starts alongside Josh Iosefa-Scott on either side of hooker Max Norey in the front row.

Dafydd Jenkins captains the side from his successful second row partnership with Andrea Zambonin, with the Italian fresh from selection to the Prem Team of the Season.

Fisilau slots into the No 8 position vacated by Ethan Roots, who has to complete his return to play protocol following a head knock against Saracens. Tom Hooper and Christ Tshiunza man the flanks.

Having been newly crowned the Exeter Chiefs Supporters’ Club’s Player of the Season, Stephen Varney starts at scrum-half with one of the league’s top try-assists men, Harvey Skinner his partner in the fly-half spot.

Len Ikitau will make his first appearance at The Rec this season having missed out on the January away clash through injury. The Australian partners Slade in the centres.

Last weekend’s back three is left intact as Campbell Ridl and Paul Brown-Bampoe take to the wings with Olly Woodburn, the former Bath man, at full-back.

Baxter added: “I certainly don’t feel like we don’t have a chance, we’ve got a good opportunity. Where we’ve been good this season is being competitive against the top teams away from home.

“I think we’ve got a bit of confidence that, turning up away from home as underdogs has brought out the best in us at times this season. So, we’ve got to try to prepare in such a way that we give ourselves the best chance of that again.”

Chiefs await the return of back-rower Ross Vintcent as the Italian international is included on the bench. The remaining forward replacements include Joseph Dweba, Ethan Burger, Bachuki Tchumbadze and Rusi Tuima.

The traditional 5-3 split also includes Tom Cairns, Zack Wimbush and Ben Hammersley covering the backline.

The game kicks off at 15:00 in Bath, broadcast live on TNT Sports or you can follow the action in our live match centre here.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Olly Woodburn

14 Paul Brown-Bampoe

13 Henry Slade

12 Len Ikitau

11 Campbell Ridl

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Stephen Varney

1 Scott Sio

2 Max Norey

3 Josh Iosefa-Scott

4 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

5 Andrea Zambonin

6 Tom Hooper

7 Christ Tshiunza

8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Joseph Dweba

17 Ethan Burger

18 Bachuki Tchumbadze

19 Rusi Tuima

20 Ross Vintcent

21 Tom Cairns

22 Zack Wimbush

23 Ben Hammersley