Bath call up reinforcements in bid to end long major trophy drought

The depth and quality of Exeter Chiefs’ squad means they remain firm favourites for tomorrow’s Anglo-welsh Cup final at Kingsholm, even though opponents Bath have bolstered their backline with three senior players.

Todd Blackadder introduces Kahn Fotuali’i, Freddie Burns and Matt Banahan to the side that just edged out Northampton Saints 13-12 last Friday.

The pack also features Beno Obano and skipper Charlie Ewels, both of whom have enjoyed recent experience of Eddie Jones’ England training camps.

It is now a decade since Bath’s last major trophy, the 2008 European Challenge Cup.

However, Exeter have reached their fourth consecutive Anglowelsh Cup decider and can be buoyed by an impressive 42-29 victory when these teams met at Sandy Park back in December in the Premiership.

Fly-half Joe Simmonds, who has enjoyed an excellent tournament and scored the decisive try against Newcastle Falcons in the previous round, is rested with one eye on next Friday’s league outing – also against Bath.

That means Gareth Steenson wears No 10, heading up a back division that includes Ollie Devoto and free-running Argentina fullback Santiago Cordero.

Matt Kvesic, Julian Salvi and captain Kai Horstmann, in his final season of professional rugby, form a gnarled back row.

“We’re so fortunate with the talent we have in this squad,” said 36-year-old Horstmann.

“This is a competition which can be used in so many ways, but we seem to get the right balance here at Chiefs.

“It can be used as a stepping stone for youngsters coming through – we’ve seen in the past the likes of the Simmonds brothers, Stu Townsend and Jack Maunder, how they’ve used it to progress.

“For the more experienced guys, who are on the fringes of the first team at the moment, they can use it to potentially accelerate themselves back into contention for the big Premiership games at the end of the season.”

Bath v Wasps, tomorrow, 3pm (BT Sport 1)