Team news: Exeter Chiefs Women remain unchanged for Saracens’ visit
Exeter Chiefs Women will field the same starting XV for two weekends in a row as they head into their final fixture of 2025 against Saracens.
It is the first time they have named an unchanged starting line-up this season with the only changes coming on the bench. Gabriella Nigrelli returns having recovered from a calf injury and Merryn Elworthy is also back to replace Maddie Flutey, who has returned to New Zealand to play in a sevens tournament.
This means Chiefs will retain their trio of playmakers in the backline with Gabby Cantorna, Liv McGoverne and Alex Tessier all ready to exert their influence while Chiefs’ pack will be hoping to resume their dominance in the scrum.
Tomorrow’s game (KO 15:05) will see second play third in the pick of the PWR games from the weekend. While much of the talk around the build-up has been around Saracens’ speed on the ball due to the tutelage of Canada’s head coach Kevin Rouet and Chiefs’ more free-flowing rugby under backs and attack coach Oli Bishop, set-piece is likely to still dictate the game’s outcome.
Chiefs head coach Steve Salvin said: “You always get a bit of a sense, leading into any Saracens game, that it's going to be big. There's a huge amount of excitement running through the group this week, and I'm sure it’s the same at Saracens.
“They are a very, very good team and I think there's probably a fair argument for them being the form team in the league. Saracens are a little bit less reliant on shape than most teams in the league. There are certain formations that most teams across the league tend to play within and they're all slightly different dependent on which team you're talking about, but Saracens don't play with that same shape. They put a little bit more emphasis on generating speed of ball.
“If they are generating that speed of ball that tends to then transfer into a really positive offloading game. But every game at PWR level, the breakdown plays a huge role and whoever tends to win that speed ball battle often is the team that ends up scoring the most points.
“But set-piece is also going to be huge this weekend. I think, ultimately, whoever gets the upper hand there, that could play a really significant role in terms of the outcome of the game.”
Chiefs go into the game with the most carries (881) in the Premiership and recorded a round-high of 212 successful tackles last weekend. Chiefs also won the most turnovers against Bristol with 15.
Flanker Maisy Allen also tops the try-scorer table with six tries so far this season and made four of those 15 turnovers. It put Allen joint top of the turnovers won table last weekend while lock Abby Duguid made the most tackles in the PWR with 23.
Saracens top the Premiership with 41 tries scored and 263 total points this season. Lock/back-row Poppy Cleall leads the league in offloads (19) and fly-half Zoe Harrison has been exceptional from the tee with most successful goals (22).
Salvin added: “I just think this week feels so much more exciting because I think we have an opportunity this weekend to make a little bit of a statement in terms of where we're going. I would counter that and say, so do Saracens, because winning at Sandy Park is a huge challenge for them. But my overriding feeling for this weekend is just one of immense excitement.”
This PWR round seven game between Exeter Chiefs Women and Saracens Women will kick-off 15:05 on Saturday. Tickets are just £11 for adults and £5.50 for U17s. They are available here.
Exeter Chiefs Women
15 Sabrina Poulin
14 Katie Buchanan
13 Alexandra Tessier
12 Gabby Cantorna
11 Francesca Granzotto
10 Liv McGoverne
9 Flo Robinson (vc)
1 Hope Rogers
2 Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald
3 Amy Rule
4 Linda van der Velden
5 Abby Duguid
6 Dorothy Wall
7 Maisy Allen (vc)
8 Emily Robinson (c)
Replacements:
16 Emily Tuttosi
17 Demi Swann
18 DaLeaka Menin
19 Gabriella Nigrelli
20 Zoë Dare
21 Lucy Nye
22 Naomi Brennan
23 Merryn Elworthy