Western Morning News (Saturday)
Chiefs know a win would seal home semi-final tie
RICKY Pellow has called for ‘more of the same’ from his Exeter Chiefs side as they wrap up the pool stages of this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup with the visit of Gloucester to Sandy Park on tomorrow (3pm).
Victories over Bristol Bears and Bath, coupled with a five-point victory for their cancelled clash with the now defunct Worcester Warriors, means the Chiefs have a ‘winner takes all’ showdown against the Cherry & Whites, who themselves have collected maximum points from their three games so far.
Buoyed by last weekend’s 25-22 win over Bath, Pellow will again call upon many of those who produced the goods to see off their Westcountry rivals in atrocious conditions a week ago.
It was a performance that highlighted many positives, particularly the emergence of a number of the club’s highly-rated youngsters, and he’s keen for them all to shine when they take centre stage again this weekend.
“We we’re really pleased, not just with the result, but with the performance as well,” said Pellow. “That victory has set us up nicely and takes us into what is now a massive game against Gloucester this weekend. They have been the form side in our group, winning every game with a bonus point, so we know it’s going to be super tough, but a great challenge at the same time.”
With a potential home semi-final spot up for grabs, the Chiefs are well aware that victory is essential in their quest for glory.
“It’s all in our hands, we know what we have to do,” added Pellow. “We know all about Gloucester’s strength, particularly around their strong maul game, they use that as a real weapon to gain momentum and territory, so we have to stop that. Equally, they have quality half-backs who like to control the game, so again we need to shut off that threat and their key runners.
“At the same time, we too have to impose ourselves on them. We have to get our game right and look to build a lead, put pressure on them and, hopefully, do enough to try and get that bonus point.”
As mentioned, the Chiefs stick largely with the same personnel who did the job against Bath last time out, although there are slight tweaks to the starting line-up with Jack Dunne and Lewis Pearson added to the pack, while behind Will Becconsall, Solomone Kata and Dan John also get the nod from the outset.
Meanwhile, Chiefs hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie appears to be the latest England international who is set to leave English rugby for France.
The Times reports that CowanDickie is set to join Sam Simmonds in Montpellier after the Rugby World Cup – a move which will affectively end his England career.
It’s a move that’s more surprising considering the 29-year-old is vying for the England No.2 jersey with Saracen’s veteran Jamie George (32).
It’s understood that Chiefs would be highly unlikely to have been able to compete with the reported £300,000 per season salary that Cowan-Dickie is set to earn at MHR.
Exeter Chiefs: Dan John, Immanuel FeyiWaboso, Sean O’Brien, Solomone Kata, Facundo Cordero, Iwan Jenkins, Will Becconsall; James Kenny, Jack Innard, Josh Iosefa-Scott, Jack Dunne, Lewis Pearson, Rus Tuima, Aidon Davis, Greg Fisilau. Replacements: Dan Frost, Danny Southworth, Patrick Schickerling, Joe Bailey, Santiago Grondona, Tom Cairns, Zack Wimbush, Tom Hendrickson.