Aviva Premiership: London Welsh v Exeter Chiefs match preview

Newly-promoted London Welsh get their 2014/15 Aviva Premiership campaign underway on home soil on Sunday, with Exeter Chiefs the visitors at the Kassam Stadium.

The Exiles were victorious in their last Premiership outing, beating Worcester Warriors 33-22 in Oxford in 2013, and are looking to record back-to-back top flight wins for only the second time.

A playoff final victory over Bristol saw Justin Burnell’s men return from the Championship and the club have been on an almighty summer recruitment drive, with no less than 25 new faces in the dressing room.

There’s no better measuring stick than playing Exeter on Sunday and that’s when we’ll see where we are at.

Justin Burnell

While expressing his pride in London Welsh’s achievement last term, Burnell is very much focussed on the task in hand as they launch a bid to retain Premiership status.

“Everybody involved with London Welsh worked so hard last season, but we’ve now got to make sure we retain our position within the Aviva Premiership,” London Welsh coach Burnell told the club’s official website.

“We’ve spent the last seven weeks planning towards Sunday and it’s going to be good to see where we’re actually at.

“There’s no better measuring stick than playing Exeter on Sunday and that’s when we’ll see where we are at.”

Meanwhile, Exeter head into the new season having claimed their first piece of major silverware last season – winning the Anglo-Welsh Cup – and a strong pre-season performance has given them an added boost.

Pre-season performers

The Chiefs have claimed the scalps of Cardiff Blues, Ulster and Worcester Warriors in recent weeks, though, head coach Rob Baxter insists they cannot get carried away with friendly results.

“It’s a bit of a phoney war right now,” said Baxter on the Chiefs’ website. “We’ve had a good pre-season, we’ve gone well in our games, but we know the Premiership is another notch up in intensity.

“We’ve trained hard this week, but we’re not looking around right now thinking we need to address anything, because we don’t, what we have to make sure of is come Sunday we turn up in the right frame of mind and ready for the battle ahead.”

We’ve trained hard this week, but we’re not looking around right now thinking we need to address anything, because we don’t, what we have to make sure of is come Sunday we turn up in the right frame of mind and ready for the battle ahead.

Rob Baxter

Welsh hand a birthday debut to New Zealand World Cup winning scrum-half Piri Weepu as he vies to get his career back on track following a minor stroke.

London Welsh give a birthday debut to New Zealand World Cup winning scrum half Piri Weepu on Sunday, as they welcome Exeter Chiefs to the Kassam Stadium (KO 2pm) for their opening Aviva Premiership fixture of the 2014/15 season.

Weepu is one of nine summer signings set to make their debut with Tim Molenaar, Olly Barkley, Ricky Reeves, Koree Britton, Taione Vea, Dean Schofield, James Down and Lachlan McCaffrey all donning the Exiles shirt for the first time.

Exeter captain Dean Mumm heads a list of notable absentees which includes the likes of Jack Nowell, Damian Welch, Fetu’u Vainikolo, Phil Dollman and Dave Lewis, meaning Baxter’s opening squad a somewhat new-look to it with four of his eight newcomers starting in the pack.

Prop Tomas Francis packs down in the front-row, while former Welsh player Mitch Lees is joined in the second row alongside Ryan Caldwell, and England international Thomas Waldrom is at No 8.

London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Tom May (capt), 12 Tim Molenaar, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Olly Barkley, 9. Piri Weepu; 1 Ricky Reeves, 2 Koree Britton, 3 Taione Vea, 4 Dean Schofield, 5 James Down, 6 Pete Browne, 7 Richard Thorpe, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey

Replacements: 16 Nathan Vella, 17 Pablo Henn, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Ollie Stedman, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Tristan Roberts, 23 Rhys Crane

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas; 1 Carl Rimmer, 2 Jack Yeandle (capt), 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Mitch Lees, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Ben White, 8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Moray Low, 19 Don Armand, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Ceri Sweeney