Chiefs side to face Gloucester this afternoon

Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter wants his side to go on the attack and see what they can achieve during a busy festive period for the Devon club.

The Chiefs return to Aviva Premiership action tomorrow at Gloucester (3pm) looking to build on their impressive run of form, which has seen them win their last seven matches in all competitions.

Back-to-back victories over the Scarlets in the Heineken Cup were the most recent success stories for the Chiefs, who will be looking to emulate their achievements back in March of overcoming the Cherry and Whites on their own Kingsholm turf.

“We’ve faced some big challenges already this season and thrived on them, but going to Kingsholm at Christmas time in a local derby is what it’s all about really,” said Baxter.

"There won't be a bigger challenge than going to Kingsholm," he said. "They're a team that are bang on form. You look at their results this year and if they don't win games, they lose by very little. That's the mark of a really solid team. It's something we've become quite good at over the last two or three seasons and that's how Gloucester look this year.

"They may not be quite as exciting as they have been in other seasons where the tries were flying in but, if you look at their results and where they're heading as a team, they're a side that are tough to play."

Indeed, fifth-placed Gloucester – ahead of the Chiefs by just one point and one rung in the league ladder – have lost just once on home soil this term and Baxter says that is evidence enough to show how tough a task his side will face in the pre-Christmas cracker.

Aside from Gloucester, the Chiefs will also tackle Bath at home on December 29 before entertaining Northampton Saints a week later (Jan 5).

It’s an exciting, yet crucial, period of fixtures for Baxter’s side, who have yet to taste defeat in the top flight at Sandy Park this term.

"It's the time of year when you have to make some decisions on how much you want to go for it and see what you can achieve," said Baxter. "We want the players to go for these next three games, not worry about them and how the season could hinge on any one result.

"It's a fantastic opportunity over this Christmas period to play teams that are close to us in the table, and when you're playing teams that are close to you in the table every result can swing things one way or the other. Nothing's going to be decided on the result of any one game, but as a group of three games some good performances could keep us nicely in position.

"If we can collect some points we can look to accelerate towards the end of the season, not be hanging on."

Although buoyed by winning outcomes in both the Heineken and LV= Cups in recent weeks, it’s Premiership matters which remain high on the agenda of the Exeter leader.

“The Premiership is really the bread and butter of what you are all about,” explained Baxter. “Getting into the Heineken Cup comes on the back of your Premiership form and we have based everything we have done here on how well we play in the Premiership.

“I think you would have to be a fool to look at the current table and see that our games now are against teams who are around us in the league, so if we come out of these next three games better than those around us, we will be moving up the table for sure.”

Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter against tinker with his winning formula, making four changes to that which defeated the visiting Scarlets 30-20 a week ago.

Three of those changes come in the back division where Luke Arscott, Jason Shoemark and Matt Jess all return, whilst up front the solitary difference in the pack sees Richard Baxter come in for the injured Tom Johnson at No.8.

15 Luke Arscott

14 Gonzalo Camacho

13 Phil Dollman

12 Jason Shoemark

11 Matt Jess

10 Gareth Steenson

9 Haydn Thomas

1 Brett Sturgess

2 Simon Alcott

3 Hoani Tui

4 Aly Muldowney

5 James Hanks