Exeter v Harlequins: Teams
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has made five changes to his line-up for the visit of Harlequins on Saturday.
Last Updated: 30/12/11 4:17pm
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has made five changes to his line-up for the visit of Harlequins on Saturday.
The Chiefs crashed to defeat against London Irish on Tuesday but Baxter has been pleased with the way his players have recovered despite the hectic scheduling.
"In the end we didn't have to make too many changes," said Baxter. "At the moment we have a fair amount of strength in depth within the squad and Tuesday wasn't the most physical game of Premiership rugby we've ever played.
"There was a fair amount of movement and kicking and it wasn't a real, brutal forwards battle. It's meant we have had the opportunity to rotate a few of the guys, but overall we're pleased with how the boys have come through Tuesday."
Brett Sturgess, Neil Clark and former Quins prop John Andress will form a new-look front row for the clash, while Aly Muldowney starts in the second row.
In the backs, Baxter has made just the one change, with Jason Shoemark recalled in the centres.
Rocked
Harlequins, still smarting from a first Premiership defeat of the season against Saracens, have been rocked by the loss of Nick Evans, Nick Easter and Mo Fa'asavalu for the trip to the Chiefs.
Evans, who has been in sparkling form at fly-half, is set to miss the next couple of matches with a minor injury, while Easter and Fa'asavalu are struggling with knocks they picked up in the 19-11 defeat to Sarries.
As a result, Rory Clegg is handed the No.10 jersey, while Tom Guest and Luke Wallace are added to the back row.
There are two further changes to the starting XV, with Tom Williams named on the wing and hooker Joe Gray rotating with the benched Chris Brooker.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Nic Sestaret, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 1 Brett Sturgess, 2 Neil Clark, 3 John Andress, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 5 Aly Muldowney, 6 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 8 James Phillips
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Hoani Tui, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Chris Bentley, 20 Tom Johnson, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Josh Tatupu
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Danny Care, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Joe Gray, 3 Tim Fairbrother, 4 Tomas Vallejos, 5 George Robson, 6 Chris Robshaw (c), 7 Luke Wallace, 8 Tom Guest.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 James Johnston, 19 Pete Browne, 20 Chris York, 21 Richard Bolt, 22 Ben Urdapilleta, 23 Sam Smith.