Steven Luatua leads Bristol against Exeter Chiefs in West Country derby

Dylan Coetzee
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Bristol Bears flanker Steven Luatua.

Bristol Bears flanker Steven Luatua.

Former All Blacks and now Samoan international Steven Luatua will lead Bristol Bears against Exeter Chiefs on Friday night.

Joining him in the back-row is Magnus Bradbury and Dan Thomas with Joe Batley and James Dun as the lock pairing for the clash. Experienced prop Kyle Sinckler starts alongside Max Lahiff and Gabriel Oghre in the front-row.

Bruising centres

In the half-backs, Harry Randall is selected with fly-half Callum Sheedy whilst the robust centre pairing of Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Virimi Vakatawa will look to give their team go-forward in the middle of the park. Full-back Max Malins starts with Noah Heward and Rich Lane in the back three.

Joe Owen could make his Premiership debut from the bench that could also see an appearance from exciting Fijian Kalaveti Ravouvou.

Meanwhile, for Exeter, in-form Henry Slade starts in the centre again with Ollie Devoto whilst Ben Hammersley, Immanuel Feyo-Waboso and Olly Woodburn are the back three this weekend. The team will be steered by fly-half Harvey Skinner and scrum-half Stu Townsend.

In the pack, Ross Vintcent starts on the side of the scrum with Ethan Roots and Greg Fisilau in the back-row. Dafydd Jenkins skippers the side and is alongside Rusi Tuima in the lock department. Josh Iosefa-Scott, Dan Frost and Nika Abuladze complete the matchday 23.

Director of rugby for Exeter, Rob Baxter, is expecting a challenging game in front of a big crowd.

“We’re really looking forward to it. When you’re on a bit of form then the days and the weeks go by quickly, so we’re ready to get into things. Hopefully we’ll maintain our recent momentum and go up there to play well in front of a great crowd and what should be a great atmosphere.”

“We’re expecting them to be preparing to put on a big show in front of a home crowd. That hopefully will bring the best out of us to be competitive and hopefully the crowd will bring us energy as well.”

Teams

Bristol: 15 Max Malins, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Rich Lane, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Max Lahiff
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Joe Owen, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 James Williams, 23 Kalaveti Ravouvou

Exeter: 15 Ben Hammersley, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ross Vintcent, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 4 Rusi Tuima, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Nika Abuladze
Replacements: 16 Max Norey, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Zack Wimbush

Venue: Ashton Gate, Bristol
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: TBA
Assistant Referees: TBA
TMO: TBA

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