Chiefs launch into PREM Rugby Cup with a handful of debutants

September 11, 2026
284
Ultimate Rugby

Five debutants have been named in the Exeter Chiefs matchday 23 to take on Bristol Bears in round two of the new PREM Rugby Cup competition.

Following a bye-week in round one, during which they hosted Scarlets Rugby at Sandy Park for a friendly last weekend, Chiefs return to competitive action with a raft of new faces.

Back-rower Harry Wilson starts in a pack led by club captain Jack Yeandle, who returns from injury for the first time since April. Summer signings Sam Wolstenholme and Will Butt then both start at scrum-half and centre respectively.

Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “[the new signings] They’re all just very good rugby players. The point of bringing them in was to add that quality in depth, and I think they showed that against Scarlets.

“I thought Sam was very good, accurate around his speed of pass. Will had a particularly good game with his defensive reads and looked strong in attack, as did Harry alongside running the lineout for us.”

Ethan Burger and Josh Iosefa-Scott prop up the scrum on either side of hooker Yeandle. Lewis Pearson brings experience to a second-row pairing with 20-year-old Oscar Beckerleg.

Joining Wilson in the back-row is Ethan Roots and one of Wales’s newest internationals, Kane James.

Wolstenholme links up with club centurion Harvey Skinner at fly-half while Butt is one half of a centre pairing with Ollie Batson.

One week on from making his first appearance on a rugby pitch in 16 months, Tommy Wyatt starts with Will Haydon-Wood at full-back and Olly Woodburn on the other wing to round out the back three.

Baxter added: “More than anything else, I think last weekend showed how short our pre-season had been in a sense of, Scarlets were a lot better around the contact areas.

“However, I think we’ve got through that now, and we’ve addressed that in order to push on now with our programme of competitive fixtures.”

Local hooker Louie Gulley impressed coaches with a brace of maul tries in last weekend’s friendly. He is named on the bench with props Will Goodrick-Clarke and Jimmy Roots. EURFC alumni Joe Bailey and Finn Worley Brady complete the forward replacement options in a 5-3 bench split.

Recreating their University of Exeter partnership, summer signing Jake Murray and Ben Coen form the replacement half-back duo while another new face, Sam Harris, pulls on the number 23.

The game kicks off at 15:00 in Devon live on PREM Rugby’s YouTube channel. Match tickets are also still available here.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Will Haydon-Wood

14 Tommy Wyatt

13 Ollie Batson

12 Will Butt

11 Olly Woodburn

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Sam Wolstenholme

1 Ethan Burger

2 Jack Yeandle (c)

3 Josh Iosefa-Scott