Exeter v Sale: Teams

Exeter have made two changes for the visit of Sale - with coach Rob Baxter keen to bounce back from the loss to Bath last time out.

James Hanks gets the nod in the second row ahead of Peter Short while Bryan Rennie takes over from Nic Sestaret in the centres.

And Baxter is well aware of the challenge ahead for his team.

"They will be a massive challenge," he said. "They played very well last weekend and scored a lot of tries [against Wasps].

"They have an exciting team up there, but equally I feel we have a strong enough side to put in a big performance again them. And I know if we get that performance right, hopefully the result will take care of itself."

Confidence

Sale have made one change of their own for the clash against their mid-table rivals.

With Andrei Ostrikov missing through injury, Scotland international Richie Vernon makes a timely return to the side.

Vernon will start in the back-row, with James Gaskell moving forward to take Ostrikov's place in the second row.

And Sharks boss Tony Hanks knows that his side faces a real fight to leave with the win.

"We've taken some confidence out of the last three weeks and have been building nicely," Hanks said.

"We're well aware of how tough it will be down at Sandy Park."

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Bryan Rennie, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Hoani Tui.
Replacements: 16 Neil Clark, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Ben White, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Nic Sestaret.

Sale: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou (capt), 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell, 7 David Seymour, 6 Richie Vernon, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Kearnan Myall, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Wame Lewaravu, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Luther Burrell, 23 Joaquin Tuculet.