Exeter v Gloucester: Teams

Baxter: Head chief

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Exeter Chiefs start their new life in the Aviva Premiership by hosting Gloucester at Sandy Park on Saturday.

The two sides have never met in league action before, with the last meeting being a 35-6 Gloucester victory in a Powergen Cup clash at Kingsholm in 2002.

The Chiefs clinched a Premiership spot via a two-legged play-off win over Bristol in May, and they are determined to stay in the top flight after fighting all the way to the top of the sport.

Head coach Rob Baxter has made changes to the team that lost narrowly to the Scarlets in pre-season action, with Tom Johnson starting in place of Chad Slade at blindside flanker.

Haydn Thomas comes in at scrum-half with Junior Poluleuligaga injured and Phil Dollman's inclusion at centre means Mark Foster moves to the wing at the expense of Matt Jess.

Signings

There is a first-ever league start for summer signing James Phillips at No.8, while Luke Arscott, who followed Phillips to the Chiefs from Bristol, is also included in this his second spell at the club.

"It's fantastic we are starting at home," said Baxter. "It's a history making time for the club and we are challenging the players to be the people who want to make history for a rugby club.

"They made history last season by getting us into the Premiership and now they are the guys who are going to write our history this first season in the Premiership. I think that is a fantastic opportunity for them.

"This season is going to be all about giving it a real go, enjoying the experience and maximising every minute of it all. We want the players to improve and the only way they can do that is by getting involved in the game and maximising every action they have."

Redpath warning

Gloucester boss Bryan Redpath welcomes back skipper Mike Tindall and fields an experienced line up for the club's first Premiership visit to Sandy Park.

Redpath does not want his men caught out by the euphoria of Exeter's first game in the top flight and expects a thunderous atmosphere to be facing his side come Saturday.

Redpath told the club website that playing the likes of the Ospreys and Munster on the road in preseason was geared towards away days like Saturday:

"It's why we played Ospreys and Munster away, two challenging grounds. It will be a great atmosphere and huge credit to Exeter for what they've achieved."

"We've got to focus properly. The big challenge is our away form. We need to get our head around that and Saturday is when it starts. We have to make sure that we are mentally tough for that game."

Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Nic Sestaret, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Bryan Rennie, 11 Mark Foster, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 1 Brett Sturgess, 2 Neil Clark, 3 Hoani Tui, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 5 James Hanks, 6 Tom Johnson, 7 James Scaysbrook, 8 James Phillips

Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Chad Slade, 21 Garrick Cowley, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Matt Jess

Gloucester: Olly Morgan; James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall (capt), Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, Lesley Vainikolo; Nicky Robinson, Dave Lewis; Nick Wood, Scott Lawson, Pierre Capdevielle; Dave Attwood, Alex Brown; Peter Buxton, Akapusi Qera, Luke Narraway

Replacements: Olivier Azam, Alasdair Dickinson, Rupert Harden, Will James, Alasdair Strokosch, Jordi Pasqualin, Tim Taylor, Tim Molenaar