Premiership: Ellis Genge and Charles Piutau return for Bristol while Jack Yeandle is back to captain Exeter

David Skippers
Ellis Genge Bristol Bears Premiership 2022 - PA

There is one Premiership fixture scheduled for Friday night with Bristol Bers hosting Exeter Chiefs at Kingston Park.

Ellis Genge and Charles Piutau are back in Bristol Bears’ starting XV having missed last week’s defeat to Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.

Genge is back at loosehead prop and Piutuau at full-back, while Toby Fricker also returns on the right wing and there’s a start for John Hawkins in the second-row.

Elsewhere, Harry Randall comes in at scrum-half where he partners Callum Sheedy, with Sam Bedlow rejoining Piers O’Conor in the Bristol Bears midfield and Rich Lane switching to the wing.

Among the replacements, back-up scrum-half Tom Whiteley is set for his first league appearance since February.

Some changes for Exeter as well

Meanwhile, Exeter Chiefs boss Ross Baxter has also made some changes to his starting line-up.

Injuries sustained in last weekend’s defeat at Sale Sharks to Jack Dunne, Dafydd Jenkins and Stu Townsend mean they all miss out, so into the fold come Jonny Gray, Christ Tshiunza and Jack Maunder.

Other changes see Jack Yeandle assume the captaincy at hooker in place of Luke Cowan-Dickie, who drops to the bench.

Richard Capstick gets the nod at number eight in place of Sam Simmonds, while in the back division Jack Nowell’s inclusion on the wing means Rory O’Loughlin reverts into the centre and Joe Simmonds starts at fly-half ahead of Harvey Skinner.

Form: Bristol Bears’ 100% winning record in Premiership Rugby this season ended with their 15-30 loss at Newcastle Falcons last Friday. The Bears have not lost at Ashton Gate in Premiership Rugby since Harlequins were the visitors on 13 March. Exeter Chiefs’ four game winning run in Premiership Rugby ended with their 20-28 reversal at Sale on Saturday. Exeter have won just once away from home in Premiership Rugby since February: 36- 21 at Worcester Warriors in Round Two. The last six meetings between the two clubs in Premiership Rugby have been evenly shared with three wins apiece. Exeter have visited Ashton Gate on nine previous occasions against all opponents and have only lost once: 33-40 to Bristol in Premiership Rugby in May. This figure also includes their European Champions Cup final victory over Racing 92 in 2020.

The teams:

Bristol15 Charles Piutau, 14 Toby Fricker, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Rich Lane, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jake Heenan (c), 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Will Capon, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:
16 Jake Kerr, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 AJ MacGinty, 23 Jack Bates

Exeter15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Rory O’Loughlin, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Richard Capstick, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements:
16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Ruben van Heerden, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Solomone Kata

Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Joe James, Peter Allan
TMO: David Rose

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