Team news: Salvin shuffles the team for Bristol fixture

Exeter Chiefs Women have shuffled the starting line-up ahead of their game against Bristol Bears Women tomorrow (KO 13:00).

Injuries to Maddie Feaunati (shoulder), Claudia Moloney-MacDonald (wrist) and Gabriella Nigrelli (calf) mean they temporarily join the absentee list along with long-termers Taz Bricknell and Edel McMahon.

This means captain Emily Robinson will start this round six PWR game at No 8 and Dorothy Wall will go to flanker, marking her first start since recovering from a ruptured Achilles. Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald will also start the game at hooker.

In the backs, Sabrina Poulin switches from the wing to full-back with Alex Tessier moving to outside centre and Gabby Cantorna coming in at inside centre. Francesca Granzotto gets a starting berth on the wing.

Chiefs go into this game third in the table with Maisy Allen topping the charts for tackles made in the league (99) this season. She has also scored the most tries for Chiefs with nine from 10 appearances and has been shortlisted for the RPA’s 15 Under 23s player of the month for November.

This is in stark contrast to last season when Allen suffered two ankle injuries and missed most of the games in a very short six-month league schedule.

She said: “The injuries left me with a lot of frustration but also a willingness to get back on the pitch and play. We had a really long pre-season, as everyone else did, so I feel really fit. I've been very fortunate to have a lot of game time too, so I've played lots of minutes, which sort of leads into those tackle stats because, you know, you've got to be on the pitch to be doing that.”

Allen added: “I think the tries are often off the back of a lot of other people's hard work. I think they're all from within 50 centimetres of the line! So, while it's nice to have the stats, it's also a lot of other people's hard work too.”

Head coach Steve Salvin said: “Maisy’s playing ability is why she's so important to us, but she's also very, very team driven. Her form, right from the start of the cup, has been phenomenal and she'll be just as important to us this weekend as she has been in every other game that we've played so far.”

Bristol will travel to Sandy Park on the back of a defeat to current PWR champions Gloucester-Hartpury but will also bring a whole host of World Cup champions, including 2021 winner, new signing and Black Fern Ruahei Demant.

Salvin added: “We've never had anything but an immensely tough game against Bristol. I think one of the challenges that they've had over the past few weeks is they've had injuries, but some of those players that are coming back into the team so that will massively strengthen them.

“They’ve got a some absolutely world-class players. When you come up against a team with that amount of quality, previous score-lines and results become completely irrelevant. It's purely about what happens on the day, so we need to be absolutely in the right mindset.”

This PWR round six game between Exeter Chiefs Women and Bristol Bears Women will kick-off 13:00 on Saturday. Tickets are just £11 for adults and £5.50 for U17s. They are available here.

The Rugby World Cup trophy will be at Sandy Park tomorrow. Supporters will be able to have their photo taken with it in a tented area by the East Stand between 12:00 and 12:45 before the game. The trophy will also be available at half-time. 

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 ⁠Lola Whitley
20 ⁠Zoë Dare
21 ⁠Lucy Nye
22 Naomi Brennan
23 Maddie Flutey