Gloucester pick up surprise victory over Premiership champions Exeter

Gloucester recorded only their fourth Gallagher Premiership victory of the season as they saw off champions Exeter 34-18 at Kingsholm.

Exeter boss Rob Baxter made 11 changes to the team that beat Leicester last weekend, with four players making their first Premiership starts.

The Chiefs face Heineken Champions Cup last-16 opponents Lyon next Saturday, then a possible home quarter-final with Leinster, which undoubtedly influenced Baxter's selection. And Gloucester duly ended Exeter's threegame winning run through hooker Henry Walker's try double, a Charlie Chapman touchdown and late penalty try that secured a bonus point, while fly-half George Barton kicked 12 points.

Full-back Josh Hodge and flanker Don Armand scored tries for the Chiefs, while Harvey Skinner kicked two penalties and a conversion.

Meanwhile, Leinster will look to secure a fourth successive Guinness Pro14 title when they face Irish rivals Munster in today's final at the RDS Arena, while their visitors chase their first in a decade.

Every final in the competition’s history has featured at least one of these sides but this will be the first meeting between the two in the showpiece since 2011, when Munster lifted the trophy.

Both sides topped their respective Conferences, Leinster finishing seven points clear of Ulster in Conference A, while Munster had a commanding 19-point gap over Connacht at the summit of Conference B.

Leinster coach Leo Cullen said: “Munster are in very, very good form at the moment. They're always very tightly contested games.

“We've used a lot of players this year. I think it's 57 players we've used to get us to a final so

I think a huge amount of credit has to go in for the players to get us to this point.”

Scotland wing Sean Maitland has been named on the bench for Saracens’ clash with Richmond in the Greene King IPA Championship tomorrow.

Maitland missed out on Scotland selection against France last night because of a limit on England-based players made available.