SportsCatch
EN

Baxter demands Premiership commitment as Abuladze and Woodburn return for Bristol trip

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has called for the same intensity shown in last weekend's Champions Cup defeat to Toulouse as his side return to Premiership action at Bristol, with loosehead prop Nika Abuladze and full-back Olly Woodburn both returning to the starting XV.

2 min read
Baxter demands Premiership commitment as Abuladze and Woodburn return for Bristol trip
Share

Rob Baxter has urged Exeter Chiefs to carry the spirit of their 43-40 Champions Cup defeat to Toulouse into Saturday’s Premiership away fixture at Bristol, with the head coach naming Nika Abuladze and Olly Woodburn in a reshuffled starting line-up.

“We showed a lot of good character in last weekend’s game, but now we’ve got to move on and show at least the same level of commitment in the Prem,” Baxter said. He also flagged the conditions as a factor, adding: “This will be a completely new challenge as it’s not going to be warm and dry, it’s going to be windy and wet. It’ll be interesting to see how we come through the challenge in a tough away game against one of the league’s top four sides.”

Abuladzé returns at loosehead prop to reunite with hooker Jack Yeandle and tighthead Josh Iosefa-Scott — a front row combination that last started together against Glasgow Warriors in January 2024. Woodburn, recovering from an ankle injury, slots in at full-back.

There is one change at scrum-half, with former Bristol Bear Sam Wolstenholme coming into the starting XV alongside fly-half Harvey Skinner. Stephen Varney, who played 80 minutes against Toulouse, drops to the bench. The back row of Ethan Roots, Ross Vintcent and Greg Fisilau is unchanged, while match captain Dafydd Jenkins — recalled to Steve Tandy’s Wales squad for the Nations Championship this week — continues alongside Tom Hooper in the second row.

An injury concern for Tommy Wyatt hands Ben Hammersley a start on the left wing, while Will Butt keeps his place at inside centre following his first Chiefs try last weekend, with Henry Slade outside him.

Exeter Chiefs starting XV vs Bristol:

15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Zack Wimbush, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Butt, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Sam Wolstenholme; 1 Nika Abuladze, 2 Jack Yeandle, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 4 Tom Hooper, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 6 Ethan Roots, 7 Ross Vintcent, 8 Greg Fisilau.

Replacements: 16 Max Norey, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Kane James, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Sam Harris.

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}