Exeter vs Leicester

[Puja]

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White; 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Ollie Atkins, 5 Sam Skinner, 6 Don Armand, 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Toby Salmon, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Henry Slade


Leicester Tigers (v Exeter Chiefs, Sandy Park, Saturday 4.30pm)

15 Telusa Veainu

14 Adam Thompstone

13 Manu Tuilagi

12 Matt Toomua

11 Jonny May

10 George Ford

9 Ben Youngs

1 Greg Bateman

2 Tom Youngs (c)

3 Dan Cole

4 Mike Fitzgerald

5 Will Spencer

6 David Denton

7 Brendon O’Connor

8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements

16 Tatafu Polota-Nau

17 David Feao

18 Gaston Cortes

19 Harry Wells

20 Mike Williams

21 Sam Harrison

22 Kyle Eastmond

23 Jordan Olowofela

[Puja]

Hey look everyone, Matt Kvesic's starting!

Puja

[Renniks]

England backrow for RWC 2019 right there.

And, get Eastmond on and we can have England 9, 10, 11, 12 13 too

[Tigersman]

What a year it's been for Olowofela.

[Puja]

What a year it's been for Olowofela.

I am so pleased to see that he's been rewarded with a place in the XXIII. He's come on so much.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Hey look everyone, Matt Kvesic's starting!

And the Messiah only makes the bench.
Surely we're in an alternative reality - where's The Doctor? We need saving!

[Puja]

Hey look everyone, Matt Kvesic's starting!

And the Messiah only makes the bench.
Surely we're in an alternative reality - where's The Doctor? We need saving!

You're going to need to be more specific - there's about four or five past and present messiahs on the two benches.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Wow. I thought Tonia had already gone back to Aus. Seems odd have 6 and 8 that way round too.

Whitten again becomes a 13 as soon as Devoto is available.

[Digby]

I wonder if Exeter are trying something new on attack, that on paper doesn't look such a multiphase side to me

[Peej]

After all the hoo-ha, did Toomua even play for Australia last week?

[Epaminondas Pules]

As a Tigers fan I'm really pleased with the Exeter side. It is about as good (for us) as we could have hoped for. I don't feel confident, but I think we've got a chance, which I very rarely think about trips to Sandy Park.

[Epaminondas Pules]

After all the hoo-ha, did Toomua even play for Australia last week?

Yes came off the bench again.

[Adam_P]

I really hope Manu can put a relatively injury free season together for the sake of England. Tigers backline has the potential to be really really good.

[fivepointer]

Be interesting to see what impact Spencer and Denton have for Tigers.
Exe mixing it up a bit by benching LCD, Williams, Simmonds and Slade. I do like their back row, though it may be just about who is fit given they have 2 locks on the bench.
Looking forward to this one.

[Tigersman]

MMmmmmmm

Who to get sacked first Glynn, MOC or Blackadder

[twitchy]

Didn't think it would end like that. Pretty close first half.


Kvesic motm.

[Tigersman]

Didn't think it would end like that. Pretty close first half.


Kvesic motm.

It was telling that all our starting pack had only played 1 at the most preseason games.

[fivepointer]

Tigers outclassed. They barely put anything of note together and looked a sorry mess by the end. They will surely get better but this was a horrible way to start the season.

Exe were simply irresistible at times. Some of their continuity play was high class. Kvesic stood out, as did Devoto, who mixed some strong running with some lovely touches. Simmonds really good and Skinner underlined what a quality forward he is developing into.

[Mikey Brown]

Tigers outclassed. They barely put anything of note together and looked a sorry mess by the end. They will surely get better but this was a horrible way to start the season.

Exe were simply irresistible at times. Some of their continuity play was high class. Kvesic stood out, as did Devoto, who mixed some strong running with some lovely touches. Simmonds really good and Skinner underlined what a quality forward he is developing into.

Happy to read that.

[Scrumhead]

Seconded. If he can stay fit, Devoto is a quality option at 12 and Skinner is developing nicely.

Let’s hope Kvesic can keep it up too!

[Tigersman]

What I find interesting is that both Tigers and Bath are struggling and both have two people whose main job is head of recruitment and both of them have had little or none coaching experience in the past.... (And both of them are never mentioned in the media).

[Oakboy]

I really hope Manu can put a relatively injury free season together for the sake of England. Tigers backline has the potential to be really really good.

From what I saw, he is miles off current international standard in body and brain.

[pandion]

Tigers looked absolutely rudderless. The poor recruitment and loyalty to some players (especially sick notes) is baffling.

[Tigersman]

Tigers looked absolutely rudderless. The poor recruitment and loyalty to some players (especially sick notes) is baffling.

TBF the one main sick note would have costed us a fortune to release.

[pandion]

Tigers looked absolutely rudderless. The poor recruitment and loyalty to some players (especially sick notes) is baffling.

TBF the one main sick note would have costed us a fortune to release.

Which one?