Leicester v Exeter: Teams
Leicester will hand debuts to summer signings Mathew Tait, Kieran Brookes and Julian Salvi for the visit of Exeter.
Last Updated: 02/09/11 12:42pm
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill will hand debuts to summer signings Mathew Tait, Kieran Brookes and Julian Salvi for the visit of Exeter Chiefs.
Tait is named on the wing, with Brookes coming in at tighthead and Salvi filling the void left by the injured Craig Newby.
Fellow new-boys Mickey Young and Niall Morris are named on the bench for the clash, while England Under-20s star George Ford starts at fly-half in the absence of Toby Flood.
George Chuter captains the side for the first time as Geordan Murphy is among 11 Tigers players at the World Cup.
Cockerill said: "We've had a good pre-season in terms of preparation, I'm happy with the squad and happy with the team we'll have on the field for Saturday. We're ready to go.
"We've got players away at the World Cup and we wish them all well, but I am concerned only with the guys who are with us and representing Leicester. We will go out and fight for every point because that is what I expect from the players every weekend."
Newcomers
Former Tigers fly-half Ignacio Mieres has won the race to wear the No.10 jersey for Exeter.
Mieres, who has been capped by Argentina, spent a spell on trial at Welford Road in 2008 before playing for Perpignan and Stade Francais.
However he has get the nod ahead of Gareth Steenson for the season opener - with Mieres joined by fellow former Leicester players Chris Whitehead and Peter Short.
Second row Short makes his debut for the club after signing from Bath, while Josh Tatupu is also handed his first start.
Fellow newcomers Ben White and Kevin Barrett, who is in his second spell as the Chiefs, will make their debuts off the bench.
And head coach Rob Baxter is relishing the start of the new season, saying: "This is what it's all about. We're in a nice place at the minute because we've managed to get through pre-season with relatively few injuries which means you can prepare well and keep pushing the guys.
"We feel we're expanding our game and the way we want to play, but the acid test is this weekend. The Premiership is a tough competition and we're very aware you have to play very well for 80 minutes to get anything out of a game of rugby, let alone win them, especially away from home.
"That said, you've got to enjoy those challenges, that's what you get in the Premiership for and that's what we're going to do again.
"I've told the boys it's a fantastic opportunity to go out and play the best game they can. If they play well then you've got to take whatever happens on the chin. We're very realistic like that. We want to attack the game like we did up there and you never know what could happen."
Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Matt Smith, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Mathew Tait, 10 George Ford, 9 James Grindal, 1 Boris Stankovich, 2 George Chuter (c), 3 Kieran Brookes, 4 Ed Slater, 5 George Skivington, 6 Steve Mafi, 7 Julian Salvi, 8 Thomas Waldrom
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Jonny Harris, 18 Peter Bucknall, 19 Ben Woods, 20 Tom Armes, 21 Mickey Young, 22 Andy Forsyth, 23 Niall Morris
Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Josh Tatupu, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 1 Brett Sturgess, 2 Chris Whitehead, 3 Hoani Tui, 4 Peter Short, 5 James Hanks, 6 Tom Johnson, 7 James Scaysbrook (capt), 8 Richard Baxter
Replacements: 16 Neil Clark, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Tom Hayes, 20 Ben White, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Bryan Rennie