No let-up… increasing momentum key for Sam

■ By NEALE HARVEY

EXETER No.9 Sam Hidalgo- Clyne says there will be no complacency against Worcester as the leagueleaders seek a fourth win on the trot since lockdown.

Tuesday’s hard-fought victory at Bristol underlined Chiefs’ squad strength and with a number of big guns returning, they are overwhelming favourites.

Reflecting on a 25-22 win at Ashton Gate which coincided with his first Exeter start, 12-cap Scotsman Hidalgo-Clyne said: “It was massively satisfying.

“It’s an interesting period; you never quite know from the tactical side how coaches will deal with the attrition from short turnarounds. You have to rotate and having done well in our three games shows our strength in depth.

“Bearing in mind it was a full Bristol team and we’d made changes, it was great to get one over them.

“We’ll aim to continue that with a win over Worcester to keep building momentum, but when you’ve just had a couple of big wins against your closest rivals – as we have against Sale and Bristol – you can easily let things slip, so we’ve spoken about that.

“We need to make sure we’re firing again today and some of our players will have had a bit of a rest, so they’ll be desperate to keep our form going.”

Hidalgo-Clyne has fallen on his feet after a hectic couple of years in which he has represented six different clubs – Edinburgh, Scarlets, Harlequins, Racing 92, Lyon and now Exeter.

A direct replacement for departed Aussie, Nic White, Hidalgo-Clyne explained: “I’d been speaking to Rob Baxter for a while, certainly while I was out in France, and he wanted to keep watching me, which is why I joined Lyon from Racing for game time.

“Exeter had always had quite a lot of options at No.9 but with Nic White going back to Australia, it gave me a chance to come here. I’m going to have to play well to live up to what he achieved but hopefully I can get a string of games now.”

Success at Exeter would put Hidalgo-Clyne back on Scotland’s radar and with Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner at the club, he could not be better placed.

Driven: Hidalgo-Clyne

He added: “The shortterm goal is to play well for Exeter and then if other stuff comes with my country, I’ll try to take it. It’s a good opportunity and with these other guys at the club, Gregor Townsend is sure to be watching.”

Hidalgo-Clyne is named on the bench as Exeter change their entire XV. Jack Nowell will make his first Premiership start since January, with ten other internationals getting the nod. Stuart Hogg, Alex Cuthbert, Henry Slade and Ian Whitten play in a back division whose only noncapped player is captain Joe Simmonds.

His brother Sam starts at No.8, while Ben Moon, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Harry Williams start in the front row and Jonny Gray returns in the second row.

Worcester have also named an entirely different XV from their previous game. Wing Alex Hearle will make his Premiership debut, while back row Matt Cox is poised to make his 100th Warriors appearance from the bench.

Will Cutler captains the side that does not include former Exeter flanker Matt Kvesic.