Team news: Chiefs ring the changes for trip to Racing 92

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 14:00 [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.”

There’s experience on the bench for the pack as Joseph Dweba splits the prop pairing of Will Goodrick-Clarke and Khwezi Mona. Oscar Beckerleg prepares to make just his second Chiefs appearance, the youngster named alongside combative duo Ethan Roots and Greg Fisilau.

With the six-two split, Tom Cairns and Ollie Batson cover the back-line.

The game kicks off at 14:00 in the UK [13:00 local time] with a livestream available on the EPCR website.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Will Haydon-Wood

14 Dan John

13 Harry Ascherl

12 Will Rigg

11 Campbell Ridl

10 Ben Coen

9 Charlie Chapman

1 Ethan Burger

2 Julian Heaven

3 Jimmy Roots

4 Lewis Pearson (c)

5 Rusi Tuima

6 Richard Capstick

7 Martin Moloney

8 Kane James

Replacements:

16 Joseph Dweba

17 Will Goodrick-Clarke

18 Khwezi Mona

19 Oscar Beckerleg

20 Ethan Roots

21 Greg FIsilau

22 Tom Cairns

23 Ollie Batson