Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs - Aviva Premiership match preview

Richard Baxter: Comes in for the injured Tom Johnson at number eight

Ben Morgan: Returns at number eight for Gloucester

Gloucester boss Nigel Davies has retained the majority of the team that beat London Irish last weekend, as they face the Exeter Chiefs at Kingsholm on Saturday.

There are just three new faces for the Aviva Premiership clash. Ben Morgan returns at number eight whilst Nick Wood and Shaun Knight come in at loosehead and tighthead respectively.

Sione Kalamafoni moves across the back row from number eight to wear the No 6 shirt, with Tom Savage transferring from blindside into the second row.

Meanwhile, for Exeter Chiefs, coach Rob Baxter has gone against tampering too much with his winning formula. He makes four changes to the team that defeated the Scarlets 30-20 in the Heineken Cup a week ago.

Three of these changes occur in the back division where Matt Jess, Luke Arscott and Jason Shoemark all return.

Up front, Richard Baxter comes in for the injured Tom Johnson at number eight.

Gloucester 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Shane Monahan, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Ben Morgan,7 Akapusi Qera,6 Sione Kalamafoni,5 Jim Hamilton (c), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Shaun Knight,2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Will James, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Tim Molenaar, 23 Martyn Thomas.

Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook (capt), 6 Dean Mumm, 5 James Hanks, 4 Aly Muldowney, 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Simon Alcott, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Neil Clark, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Carl Rimmer, 19 Tom Hayes, 20 Ben White, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Ian Whitten.

What they said...

Gloucester boss Nigel Davies:

"There's not much between us and the top, and there's not much between us and Exeter. So, it really makes Saturday's game very interesting, and it will tell us a lot, at the midway point, about exactly where we are.

"We're coming up against a very good, organised and committed team on Saturday. Our work rate has to be right up there, and the quality of what we do has to be very accurate in order for us to get a result.

"We've got a lot of respect for Exeter. But I think that our team is evolving and developing, and I'm sure they'll show us a lot of respect as well."

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