{"id":635524,"date":"2026-06-12T21:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/635524\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T21:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:14:27","slug":"bath-v-exeter-teams-finn-russell-out-while-greg-fisilau-returns-for-chiefs-in-prem-semi-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/635524\/","title":{"rendered":"Bath v Exeter teams: Finn Russell out while Greg Fisilau returns for Chiefs in PREM semi-final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbarians<\/a>
Bath will be without Scotland fly-half Finn Russell for their PREM Rugby semi-final showdown with Exeter Chiefs at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Russell is one of five internationals currently sidelined for Johann van Graan\u2019s team as Will Stuart, Guy Pepper, Louie Hennessey and Will Muir are ruled out injured.<\/p>\n

The club has secured a third home play-off in as many seasons after finishing second in the league, and that hands them a home semi against a dangerous Exeter outfit.<\/p>\n

The occasion also marks a 100th game for Max Ojomoh, becoming Bath<\/a>\u2018s third centurion this season. He once again lines up alongside Ollie Lawrence in the midfield.<\/p>\n

Up front, Beno Obano is joined by a returning Tom Dunn in the front-row, which will also see a final game at the Recreation Ground for Bok tighthead Thomas du Toit.<\/p>\n

Quinn Roux also returns to rekindle his second-row partnership with Charlie Ewels while Josh Bayliss and Sam Underhill are the flanks and Alfie Barbeary is at eight.<\/p>\n

England international Ben Spencer will lead the side out for one last time at the Rec this campaign, partnered by Santi Carreras, as Russell remains on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Northampton v Leicester teams: Henry Pollock among 11 changes for Saints as England man one of two key Tigers returnees<\/a><\/p>\n

Out on the wings, Henry Arundell provides his speed and Joe Cokanasiga offers his power while Tom de Glanville completes Bath\u2019s starting line-up as the number 15.<\/p>\n

Front-row impact from the bench is provided by Kepu Tuipulotu, Francois van Wyk and Vilikesa Sela. Ross Molony, Ted Hill and Miles Reid complete the pack options.<\/p>\n

South African Bernard van der Linde returns to the shirt as replacement scrum-half and Scotland\u2019s Cameron Redpath finalises the matchday 23 for Van Graan\u2019s troops.<\/p>\n

Greg Fisilau back for Chiefs<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Exeter Chiefs<\/a> are boosted by the return of Greg Fisilau to their back-row, while the PREM<\/a>\u2018s top points scorer this season, Henry Slade, starts in the centres.<\/p>\n

A week on from making his final run-out at Sandy Park, Wallaby Scott Sio runs out alongside Josh Iosefa-Scott on either side of hooker Max Norey in Exeter\u2019s front-row.<\/p>\n

Dafydd Jenkins leads the Chiefs from his successful second-row partnership with Andrea Zambonin, with the Italian fresh from selection to the Prem Team of the Season.<\/p>\n

Fisilau slots into the number eight position vacated by the absent Ethan Roots, and he is joined in the back-row by flankers Tom Hooper and Christ Tshiunza this weekend.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

Having been newly crowned the Exeter Chiefs Supporters\u2019 Club\u2019s Player of the Season, Stephen Varney starts at scrum-half and is once again joined by Harvey Skinner at 10.<\/p>\n

Len Ikitau will make his first appearance at the Rec this season having missed out on the January away clash through injury. The Australian partners Slade in the centres.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s back three is left intact as Campbell Ridl and Paul Brown-Bampoe take to the wings with Olly Woodburn at full-back. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso remains absent.<\/p>\n

Chiefs await the return of back-rower Ross Vintcent as the Italy international is included on the bench. The remaining forward replacements include Joseph Dweba, Ethan Burger, Bachuki Tchumbadze and Rusi Tuima while the traditional 5-3 split also includes Tom Cairns, Zack Wimbush and Ben Hammersley covering the backline.<\/p>\n

PREM Rugby semi-finals: Predictions, teams, kick-off times, how to watch and referee appointments<\/a><\/p>\n

The teams<\/p>\n

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Miles Reid<\/p>\n

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Max Norey, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Zack Wimbush, 23 Ben Hammersley<\/p>\n

Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson, Sara Cox
TMO:\u00a0Andrew Jackson
How to watch: TNT Sports, HBO Max<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers: Combined XV as award winners and breakthrough stars dominate selection<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bath will be without Scotland fly-half Finn Russell for their PREM Rugby semi-final showdown with Exeter Chiefs at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[79322,79263,348,50,21002,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-635524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-bath","tag-exeter-chiefs","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-premiership","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}