Injury-hit Exeter hand 6'6" Wimbush Champions Cup debut on wing at Toulouse

Exeter Chiefs will field a makeshift back three when they travel to Toulouse on Sunday in the Investec Champions Cup, with Rob Baxter turning to 6‘6” rookie Zack Wimbush on the wing after England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was ruled out with a hamstring injury sustained against Newcastle Red Bulls last weekend.

Wimbush, primarily an outside centre, makes only his second appearance on the wing, joining Tommy Wyatt and full-back Sam Harris in a completely new back three. Exeter are further depleted by the absence of Olly Woodburn and Paul Brown-Bampoe, also through injury.

Despite the disruption, there are positive milestones elsewhere in the starting XV. Tighthead prop Josh Iosefa-Scott leads the side out for his 100th club appearance, while Will Goodrick-Clarke makes his first start of the season at loosehead. Wallaby lock Tom Hooper returns from the off to partner Dafydd Jenkins in the second row.

Baxter was candid about the scale of the task facing his side against a Toulouse outfit that has claimed the Top 14 title six times in the last eight years.

“There’s probably not many greater challenges than going away to Toulouse,” Baxter said. “They are one of those teams who continually turn up in both the European and domestic competitions, so it’s about as good as it gets.”

The Exeter head coach cautioned against assuming Toulouse would play an expansive, free-flowing game, pointing to their most recent outing as evidence of their tactical range. “If you watch their last game, both Toulouse and Bayonne actually scored a lot of points from the pressure aspect of their game — going to the corner and looking for maul tries. It was quite an attritional game from that perspective.”

Baxter identified defensive intensity as the key battleground, while remaining confident in his side’s attacking shape. “We’ll need a much bigger defensive work-rate than last weekend, and I think if we can do that, then we are looking dangerous in attack. We’re creating try-scoring opportunities, we’re moving the ball well and our set-piece is functioning well.”

He added that returning to the Champions Cup was itself a target for the club after last season, and that the squad would look to embrace rather than fear the occasion. “There’s no reason why we can’t be competitive over large parts of this game.”

Exeter: 15 Sam Harris, 14 Zack Wimbush, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Butt, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott (capt).