By Moorsman
February 10 2017
Well that's the AW Cup out of the way so it's beack to Prem action for the Chiefs
Chiefs v Wasps
Having secured a home AW Cup semi-final spot by gaining a 5 point win at Brizz Chiefs will be looking to pick up where they left off in the Prem. Prior to the break Chiefs defeated Bath and Tigers who were above them in the league (no longer the case) and drew with Sarries. This leaves Wasps as the next target and Chiefs will be keen to close the gap on the leaders and pull away from the following pack.
P | W | D | L | F | A | BP | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wasps | 13 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 415 | 277 | 7 | 51 |
2 | Sarries | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 312 | 147 | 6 | 48 |
3 | Chiefs | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 337 | 239 | 9 | 41 |
4 | Bath | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 294 | 216 | 6 | 38 |
5 | Tigers | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 285 | 265 | 5 | 33 |
6 | Saints | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 239 | 235 | 5 | 33 |
Rob Baxter and his fellow coaches have used the two AW games to rest some players whilst given others the chance to put their hands up for an AP place. Looking at the team he's selected shows who has been successfull in doing this.
15 Phil Dollman
14 Olly Woodburn
13 Ian Whitten
12 Ollie Devoto
11 James Short
10 Gareth Steenson (capt)
9 Jack Maunder
1 Ben Moon
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
3 Greg Holmes
4 Mitch Lees
5 Jonny Hill
6 Dave Dennis
7 Don Armand
8 Sam Simmonds
16 Jack Yeandle
17 Carl Rimmer
18 Harry Williams
19 Sam Skinner
20 Tom Johnson
21 Stuart Townsend
22 Henry Slade
23 Lachie Turner
It's great to see some of the youngsters getting a chance and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Sam Simmonds does.
It's a shame The Tank isn't playing but Sam will certainly be an exciting alternative. His try in the recent AW game v Wasps showed the sort of direct style of play he brings to the game. It seems very odd to have Henry Slade on the bench instead of with England but he's a very welcome addition to the squad. We'll miss Jack Nowell and Michele Campagnero as they're on International duty but there's plenty of pace and guile in Chiefs line up.
Another player to miss out on and England place is Luke Cowan-Dickie and it's great to see him starting on Sunday as he brings so much energy to Chiefs play and we're going to need everyone to be firing on all cylinders.
Wasps may also be short of a few players due to International call ups but Dai Young is still able to field a side with threat right across the back line.
15. Kurtley Beale
14. Christian Wade
13. Jimmy Gopperth
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Josh Bassett
10. Danny Cipriani
9. Dan Robson
1. Simon Mcintyre
2. Carlo Festuccia
3. Marty Moore
4. Matt Symons
5. Kearnan Myall
6. Ashley Johnson (c)
7. Thomas Young
8. Alex Rieder
16. Tom Cruse
17. Tom Bristow
18. Jake Cooper-Woolley
19. Will Rowlands
20. James Gaskell
21. Joe Simpson
22. Alapati Leiua
23. Frank Halai
Chiefs have a good record against Wasps, particularly at Sandy Park and I'm hopiung this willm continue on Sunday but it could be lot closer than some previous encounters.
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