Chiefs Winger Sestaret Ready

for Brickfields Return

Exeter Chiefs Winger Nic Sestaret's told Gemini FM he's looking forward to returning to his old stomping ground in this weekend's massive Devon derby.

The Frenchman's one of several former Plymouth players who moved up the A38 to Sandy Park over the summer. Sestaret's named in the starting line-up for the game, while former Albion skipper Tommy Hayes and Ed Lewsey start on the bench, and Emyr Lewis doesn't even make the provisional squad of 23.

It remains to be seen what kind of welcome the former Brickfields contingent will get when they go back on Saturday. All 3 were crowd favourites at Albion, Sestaret in particular enjoying some really successful seasons playing at Plymouth, but such is the rivalry between the two Devon clubs, it's inevitable the whole Chiefs squad will come in for some stick from a big Albion crowd that should top 6,000.

It's a much-changed Albion club they'll return to though. Graham Dawe's team has undergone some serious changes over the summer, with at least a dozen players departing, to be replaced by a lot of new faces.

Exeter took the bragging rights both times last season, thanks to Danny Gray's drop-goals and penalties at the Brickfields, and at Sandy Park, they had Ross Laidlaw to thank - the Albion Fly-Half missing a penalty with the last kick of the game; his effort dropping about a yard short of the goalposts.

On paper too, there's no reason why Exeter shouldn't be expected to win again this time round. They've enjoyed some huge victories of late and showed their mettle with a hard-fought win at Bedford a couple of weeks ago. In contrast, Albion have been inconsistent so far this campaign, their results and ultimate league position really indicative of a side that seem to have been left behind a bit over the last couple of seasons in National 1. All that said though, any West Country Rugby fan would tell you that anything can happen in games between these two sides. Passions inevitably run high, and in recent times have resulted in some tense, close-run encounters, and there's no reason to expect anything different on Saturday. That said, it's vital the Chiefs don't concede any ground at the top of the table, and they'll be looking to come away with a maximum 5 points - something which eluded them in both fixtures last season as Plymouth drew them into 2 forward dominated affairs.

There's 10 changes to the Exeter line-up that won so well against Sedgley Park last weekend. Pete Drewett having the un-enviable task of dropping most of the players who ran in 11 tries and scored 71 points. The likes of Chris Cracknell and Kev Barrett are away with England 7's.

The predicted decent weather forecast may help the Chiefs play a slightly more expansive game, and get the ball out to the backs where they would seem to have a bit more of an edge on the opposition. Albion have set the foundation of their play on a big strong pack in recent years, but these days, with a 49 man squad, Exeter would seem to have them matched in that department too, and if they can stick to their game-plan, control preceedings, and not let the occasion get to them, they can be confident of coming away with another win.

Click on the links below to hear our pre-match interviews with:

Nic Sestaret

Pete Drewett

Richie Pugh

Tom Johnson

Chiefs team: Dan Parkes, Neil Clark, John Andress, Dan Tuohy, Lewis Stevenson, Tom Johnson, Richie Pugh, Richie Baxter, Clive Stuart-Smith, Gareth Steenson, Josh Drauniniu, Matt Cornwell, Bryan Rennie, Nic Sestaret, Sean Marsden.

Replacements: Sam Blythe, Chris Budgen, Tom Hayes, Tom Skelding, Ed Lewsey, Danny Gray, Mark Fatiolofa, Alan Miller

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