Chiefs side to face Bristol Bears

Rob Baxter believes tomorrow's Premiership Rugby Cup clash with local rivals Bristol Bears at Sandy Park (3pm) offer a number of exciting challenges for his Exeter Chiefs squad.

Firstly, there is the small matter of a semi-final spot being up for grabs for his side, who currently head Pool C entering into the final round of qualification.

Secondly, local bragging rights will be very much up for grabs in this 'Derby Day' encounter and, most importantly, the game offers the players a final chance to stake their claim ahead of next week's Gallagher Premiership opener against Harlequins.

Last week's bonus point victory away to Worcester Warriors has put the Chiefs within sight of a place in February's semi-finals – and Baxter is determined his players achieve their goal against their nearest and dearest.

"The interesting thing is we are still alive in the competition," he said. "In that sense, it's made this week doubly important for us. It's not just that big hit-out we need before we get into the Premiership, but it's actually got something genuinely riding on it.

"To get through to a semi-final would be fantastic, but so too is making sure we are ready for the start of the Premiership.

"What I would love to have coming out of the game is some easy decisions. I'd love to know bang on who the top 23 are, just because they've all proved it either, this weekend, or over the last few weeks. At the moment, that's the big challenge for the players. It's not only to go out there and play well in this game, but it's also to show they are the person demanding a shirt next week.

"We've talked about that with the squad all week and, as a coach, you want to have those players coming up to you and saying you can't leave me out."

Having used the first three rounds of the competition to get much-needed game time into a large nucleus of his squad, Baxter says the time has come for performance and intensity levels to crank up another notch at least.

"We saw a bit of rustiness last week, but I am trying to move on beyond that with the players," added Baxter. "I want them to move on from thinking they need a game or two to get themselves ready. I'm expecting guys to put levels of intensity into training where rustiness is not really a level of excuse.

"Although we made some errors and it would be easy to say it was a first game for a lot of guys, I also think what we did show was a level of spirit that we're going to need in the middle of a Premiership season, because it was tough out there at times. Worcester really stood up and there was a time there where it would have been easy to give up and make excuses as to why we lost the game.

"When you end up with three back-line injuries, two scrum-halves on the pitch, people playing out of position, it would have been easy to say 'let's try and scrape through here' or 'if we lose this one it's not the end of the world' because we've been hit by injuries.

"Actually, the guys really knuckled down and we saw the best of ourselves when it got the toughest – and that's what really impressed me. It showed we are ready to get stuck into the season and I would like to see that kind of spirit again this weekend."

Like the Chiefs, Bristol still harbour hopes of a last four placing, but they know they must record a maximum haul at Sandy Park, as well as hope results elsewhere go their way.

Past experience tells Baxter that the Bears will be tough opponents – and that it will again take time for his side to make significant inroads.

"If a team breaks in the first 10 minutes, you're in the wrong competition," said Baxter. "It shouldn't happen and it's been an awful long time since I've been involved in a game where I'm sat there comfortably after 10 minutes.

"I look back to the first game of last season [against Leicester] and you see the end scoreline and think it was a comfortable victory. In truth, it was tight for quite a while in that game and it wasn't until that last quarter where we scored a lot of our points.

"That is what you have to be prepared to do. You have to be prepared to work extremely hard, for a very long time, and take what you can as it comes. At the same time, you need to stay calm and work at what you are good at, almost with a knowledge that is the best way to win the game.

"That is what happened at Worcester, it was the best way to win the game and we didn't lose faith with it. I would like to think that's an important lesson for us moving forward because it's something we will have to do again this weekend."

Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter make a number of changes, some of them enforced, from that which won at Sixways. Up front, Dave Dennis and Jonny Hill form a new-look pairing in the Exeter engine room, while behind try-scorer Jacques Vermeulen comes into the back-row, alongside England international Sam Simmonds, who is making his first appearance of the new season following a knee injury.

Behind, Ian Whitten has been passed fit despite coming off with a head knock against the Warriors, but injuries to Ollie Devoto and Phil Dollman mean Tom Hendrickson and Max Bodilly are brought into the starting XV.

15 Max Bodilly

14 Tom O'Flaherty

13 Ian Whitten

12 Tom Hendrickson

11 Olly Woodburn

10 Joe Simmonds

9 Jack Maunder

1 Alec Hepburn

2 Jack Yeandle (capt)

3 Harry Williams

4 Dave Dennis

5 Jonny Hill