Team news: Chiefs XV named to travel to Coventry

Exeter Chiefs will send a XV to Butts Park Arena on Saturday afternoon for a second friendly against RFU Championship opposition as this week they take on Coventry.

Skills coach Ricky Pellow said: “It was a tough outing for us against Pirates last week, but I’d like to think our younger squad members learned a lot from the experience of going up against a competitive Championship side.

“It’ll be no different this weekend. Coventry finished fifth last year, just two points outside the top four so they’ll want to use this game to be in the best place possible for their season starting.

“We’ve brought a little more experience into the side this weekend so I’m looking for them to support the young lads and help have an impact on the game and we improve in the areas we have covered this week.”

One week on from the game in Penzance, England U20s’ Louie Gulley takes the captain’s armband in this friendly. He’s accompanied by fellow age-grade internationals Oscar Beckerleg and Jed Findlay in the starting line-up.

There’ll be a return to old stomping grounds for centre Will Rigg who returns to match fitness to take on his former side. Rigg joined Chiefs in January 2024 having made 31 appearances for Coventry.

Alongside Rigg, there’s Premiership experience provided by Tom Cairns, Will Haydon-Wood and Zack Wimbush.

The game kicks off at 15:00 in Coventry with tickets and a livestream still available here.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Jed Findlay

14 Noah Fenton

13 Harry Ascherl

12 Will Rigg

11 Zack Wimbush

10 Will Haydon-Wood

9 Tom Cairns

1 Ethan Burger

2 Louie Gulley (c)

3 Caleb Ashworth

4 Alfie Bell

5 Oscar Beckerleg

6 Luke Evans

7 Charlie Bell

8 Harry Price

Replacements:

16 Sol Moody

17 Josh Mann

18 Ben Woodmansley

19 Seth Findlay

20 Elijah Taylor

21 James Howard

22 Iwan Jenkins

23 Nic Allison

24 Israel Akinrowo

25 Kian Gentry