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Chiefs v Saints in EDF Trophy Final

Trophy
By Gemini April 9 2008
Match Preview, courtesy of our friends at Gemini, of the EDF Trophy Final between Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints. There are also links to interviews with Pete drewett, Richie Baxter, Brett Sturgess and Josh Dauniniu (Drown In You), prior to the big match.

Injuries In Chiefs Squad Ahead of Final

 

A few injuries in the Exeter Chiefs camp's meant Director of Rugby Pete Drewett's held off on naming his confirmed squad of 22 for the massive EDF Trophy final against Northampton.

Instead, Drewett's opted to name an extended list of the players in contention for the final, which will no doubt also keep the squad training hard to try and make sure they're one of the lucky ones that make the final cut.

So, among the Forwards: Richie Baxter, Chris Bentley, Sam Blythe, Craig Dunlea, James Hanks, Simon Jenkins, Tom Johnson, Alan Miller, Andy Miller, Dan Parkes, Chad Slade, Lewis Stevenson and Brett Sturgess.

And the backs: Kev Barrett, Josh Drauniniu, Junior Fatiolofa, Mark Fatiolofa, Wade Kelly, Gary Kingdom, Jason Luff, Sean Marsden, Clive Stuart-Smith, Stephen Ward and Tony Yapp.

Chiefs fans will need no reminding that it's been 3 un-successful trips to Twickenham so far in finals gone by, and they'll start as underdogs against an unbeaten Saints side who have already wrapped up promotion back to the Premiership.

But there seems to be a real optimism in the Exeter camp though, that they can break Northampton's National 1 monopoly, and finally bring the trophy back to Devon.

The two league games between the sides have certainly been fairly close run affairs this season; Saints just pulling away slightly in the second half after a tight first period, and Exeter held their own at Franklin Gardens a few weeks ago, only losing by ten points.

The Chiefs haven't enjoyed the best preparation for the game, with last weekend's defeat at Nottingham, but it may serve as a blessing in disguise for the side, who have bounced back with an excellent performance every time they've been beaten so far this season.

There's no denying Exeter will miss the likes of Danny Gray at Fly-Half, but have a more than able replacement in Tony Yapp, and the news that Sam Blythe's back in contention for the game, plus Tom Johnson's timely return from injury will give the side a massive boost ahead of the final, which will be their last chance to prove for a while that they're really capable of competing against, and beating Premiership class opposition.

Interviews - 

Pete Drewtt
Richie Baxter
Brett Sturgess
Josh Dauniniu

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