{"id":797301,"date":"2026-10-09T19:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T19:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/797301\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T19:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T19:00:14","slug":"exeter-chiefs-get-wallaby-bruiser-back-for-newcastle-red-bulls-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/797301\/","title":{"rendered":"Exeter Chiefs get Wallaby bruiser back for Newcastle Red Bulls clash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published: 7 hours ago | 9 October 2026 07:36 EDT
Updated: 7 hours ago | 9 October 2026 07:39 EDT <\/p>\n

mens<\/p>\n

gallagher-premiership<\/p>\n

BATH, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Henry Slade of Exeter Chiefs looks on during the Gallagher PREM 2026\/2027 match between Bath Rugby and Exeter Chiefs at The Recreation Ground on October 02, 2026 in Bath, England. (Photo by David Rogers\/Getty Images) \"Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Wallabies back-rower Tom Hooper returns to the Exeter Chiefs<\/a> side in search of their first win of the season as Newcastle<\/a> Red Bulls<\/a> visit Sandy Park on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Hooper, a key performer for the Chiefs<\/a> in their run to last season\u2019s Gallagher PREM Final, flew back from international duty earlier in the week and will take his place on the bench.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs make only one change to their pack, with Wales<\/a> international Kane James moving to the bench to make way for Italy<\/a> international Ross Vintcent at openside flanker.<\/p>\n

The only other change comes at full-back, with Sam Harris coming in after Olly Woodburn suffered an ankle knock in the defeat at Bath<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n

Chiefs\u2019 director of rugby Rob Baxter says that he was happy with a two-point return from the trip to the Rec and is aware of the threat a much-changed Newcastle will pose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching Newcastle\u2019s game against Leicester [Tigers], they\u2019re clearly a very dangerous side. They\u2019ve got some real strength and quality individuals in there, while they\u2019re still learning a little how to come together as a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to just decide to be very good. I thought we were much improved against Bath in a lot of areas. We\u2019ve got to look for the same improvement again this week and look to move forward now after a long training week.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo points at Bath was a decent return. In most seasons, but especially the most recent few, that\u2019s a good return from going to The Rec. Only collecting one point the week before in a home game makes things a little more challenging, but if we can get a win and have seven or eight points from three weeks in, then things start to look back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exeter Chiefs: Sam Harris, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Will Butt, Tommy Wyatt, Harvey Skinner, Stephen Varney, Ethan Burger, Jack Yeandle, Josh Iosefa-Scott, Harry Wilson, Dafydd Jenkins (c), Ethan Roots, Ross Vintcent, Greg Fisilau<\/p>\n

Replacements:
Louie Gulley, Will Goodrick-Clarke, Bachuki Tchumbadze, Tom Hooper, Kane James, Sam Wolstenholme, Will Haydon-Wood, Zack Wimbush<\/p>\n

Newcastle Red Bulls: Harrison Obatoyinbo, Christian Wade, Alex Hearle, Sammy Arnold, Werner Kok, Zack Henry, Sim\u00f3n Ben\u00edtez Cruz, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Zuriel Togiatama, Elliot Millar Mills, Oscar Usher, Cam Jordan, Max Hicks, Tom Christie (c), Hoskins Sotutu.<\/p>\n

Replacements: Samson Adejimi, Adam Brocklebank, James Harper, Franco Molina, Ollie Leatherbarrow, Sam Graham, James Elliott, Brett Connon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 7 hours ago | 9 October 2026 07:36 EDT Updated: 7 hours ago | 9 October 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-797301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797301","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=797301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}