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Hogg left out as Exeter name team to take on a stacked Leicester

(Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Rob Baxter has had no hesitation slotting England internationals Henry Slade and Sam Simmonds straight back into his Exeter team following the completion of the Guinness Six Nations last weekend, but there is no return for Scotland pair Stuart Hogg and Sam Skinner following their country’s round five loss to Ireland.

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Jonny Gray, a starter in Dublin last Saturday, is included in the Chiefs XV to host Leicester on Sunday in the Gallagher Premiership. The Tigers are travelling with their England contingent of Ellis Genge, Ollie Chessum, Ben Youngs and Freddie Steward all set to start, as does Joe Heyes with Nic Dolly on the bench.

However, it’s the resting of Scottish skipper Hogg by Exeter that most piques the interest after the way the Test level captain’s Six Nations campaign unravelled. Hogg was one of six players disciplined by Scotland boss Gregor Townsend after they left the team hotel in Edinburgh to go for a drink on the Sunday after the round four win over Italy.

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Freddie Steward | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 26

We wrap up the Guinness Six Nations with England fullback Freddie Steward joining the show this week. We get their view on Italy’s historic win against Wales, Scotland’s disappointing performance in Dublin and France’s Grand Slam winning performance in Paris. Freddie tells us about his pre-match rituals, his England bestie, life in student digs, Pennyhill Park and which opposition player impressed him the most in the Six Nations.

Video Spacer

Freddie Steward | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 26

We wrap up the Guinness Six Nations with England fullback Freddie Steward joining the show this week. We get their view on Italy’s historic win against Wales, Scotland’s disappointing performance in Dublin and France’s Grand Slam winning performance in Paris. Freddie tells us about his pre-match rituals, his England bestie, life in student digs, Pennyhill Park and which opposition player impressed him the most in the Six Nations.

This revelation emerged just 24 hours before the kick-off at Aviva Stadium and the full-back was distinctly uncomfortable when talking about the incident post-game. The 29-year-old explained that he had apologised for his actions but it has been much speculated since then that Hogg could well lose the captaincy when Scotland assemble at the end of the season for their three-Test trip to Argentina.

Despite deciding to rest him this Sunday’s Exeter match, Baxter had backed Hogg when asked on Thursday at his weekly media briefing for his view on the controversy that unfolded with Scotland. “People are trying to make out there has been a clear breach of team rules – there has not been,” he said.

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“There was a little bit of ambiguity over what was supposed to happen when he got back to the hotel. That ambiguity was cleared up with a phone call asking the guys to come back. It was one of those things – sometimes it can happen – but it all got cleared up very quickly, almost within minutes of the incident.

“It’s not like anyone has gone out and got drunk and got into a fight or come back at six o’clock in the morning or missed training, so I can probably understand why the Scottish people involved are a little frustrated that this has been a big issue because it clearly hasn’t been.”

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Friday’s Exeter team announcement media release stated: “Baxter wastes little time in drafting back the England duo of Sam Simmonds and Henry Slade to his starting line-up, while Scottish international Jonny Gray is also in from the start against the Tigers. Fellow Scots Sam Skinner and Stuart Hogg are rested this week, but could well return for next week’s home engagement with local rivals Bath.”

EXETER: 15. Josh Hodge; 14. Olly Woodburn, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ian Whitten, 11. Tom O’Flaherty; 10. Joe Simmonds (capt), 9. Sam Maunder; 1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Jack Innard, 3. Harry Williams, 4. Richard Capstick, 5. Jonny Gray, 6. Dave Ewers, 7. Jacques Vermeulen, 8. Sam Simmonds. Reps: 16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Billy Keast, 18. Patrick Schickerling, 19. Will Witty, 20. Santiago Grondona, 21. Jack Maunder, 22. Harvey Skinner, 23. Facundo Cordero.

LEICESTER: 15. Freddie Steward; 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Guy Porter, 12. Dan Kelly, 11. Nemani Nadolo, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Julian Montoya, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Harry Wells, 5. Eli Snyman, 6. Ollie Chessum, 7. Hanro Liebenberg, 8. Jasper Wiese. Reps: 16. Nic Dolly, 17. James Whitcombe, 18. Nephi Leatigaga, 19. Calum Green, 20. Tommy Reffell, 21. Jack van Poortvliet, 22. Freddie Burns, 23. Matias Moroni.

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AM 10 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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