Championship Final 2nd Leg
Bristol v Exeter Chiefs - Memorial Stadium 7.45pm
(Aggregate after 1st leg - 6-9)
Exeter Chiefs will field an unchanged side for tonight's second and deciding leg of the Championship final
With just three points separating the two teams following Chiefs' narrow 9-6 victory last Wednesday, the winner of tonight's game will most probably achieve the ultimate prize of Premiership rugby in 2010/11.
And head coach Rob Baxter has elected to field the same starting XV and bench that played last week after they survived a late change among the backs, as well as the pressure of an expectant 10,000-strong home crowd and playing under floodlights in front of the Sky Sports cameras
He said: "It is pretty simple for us now. We have just got to go out and play a game of rugby. This bunch of players and their attitude they can play anywhere
"You cannot defend a three-point lead! We have said all along that we are not in the final to be safe; we are going to play to win it. It's about attacking the game and doing what we do very well, which is playing rugby
"We had a re-shuffle in the back-line because we had an injury in the team run. We had not played in a televised game this season, but Bristol had. We don't play evening fixtures. We dealt with all that extremely well. In fact, we seemed to relish it and we will be better prepared tonight
"In some ways the late changes were the biggest positive for us. That backline had literally five minutes at the end of the team run with each other. They thought Bryan (Rennie) had a bloody nose; they did not think they would have to play in that formation the next day".
Baxter concluded: "We won the last game and we played in a way that won us the game. If we play in a way that win's us the game tonight, we will be happy!"
Team:-
15 Mark Foster
14 Matt Jess
13 Nic Sestaret
12 Phil Dollman
11 Paul McKenzie
10 Gareth Steenson
9 Haydn Thomas
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Neil Clark
3 Hoani Tui
4 Tom Hayes (capt)
5 James Hanks
6 Chad Slade
7 James Scaysbrook
8 Richie Baxter
16 Simon Alcott
17 Chris Budgen
18 David Gannon
19 Tom Johnson
20 Clive Stuart-Smith
21 Danny Gray
22 Matt Cornwell
Rob Baxter has hit out at media criticism of Exeter’s tactics in the first leg a week ago.
The Chiefs won the match 9-6 and Baxter told The Express & Echo: “I know people have talked about why we didn't take kicks at goal and bits and pieces, but I don't know one person who can guarantee that when you take a kick at goal and receive the kick-off you're then going to receive your next penalty attempt five minutes later.
"What happens if you kick your penalty, drop the kick-off and they score a try?
"Some people's take on how you build pressure or when you take penalty kicks is completely different to mine.
"Of the decisions when we went to the corner there was probably one where we definitely should have kicked to the posts because the momentum of the game was dictating we should do that.
"Other than that, I think we kept the ball in the opposition territory, we went for scores and we did a degree of wearing them down at the time.”
Full story www.thisisexeter.co.uk
Bristol head coach Paul Hull will delay naming his side until close to kick-off tonight but will definitely be without injured duo Nathan Budgett and Alex Crockett.
Hull has urged the Bristol fans to play their part tonight as the West Country side look to bounce back to the Premiership at the first attempt and told the Evening Post: “This is one more hurdle now, after winning the league stage and then winning the play-off pool with the most points so we could choose home advantage in the second leg of the final.
"We always wanted to do that – finish off at home – and our supporters have got a massive part to play on the night. I know they will do their bit – and that's the reason we wanted to play at home.
It's all teed up nicely. The supporters really have got a massive, massive role to play to justify why we wanted to come home in the second leg."
Full story www.thisisbristol.co.uk
Bristol forwards coach John Brain has told his charges that focus is the key to overturning a narrow three point aggregate deficit in tonights second leg.
He said: “If you focus on the outcome, you are finished. You have to focus on the process, and you have to be clear about what you need to do to win the game.”
"Obviously there are a lot of distractions and, at times, the gaze can shift. But I have been involved in these type of games and I know that is not the right way to go about things.
"You can compare this to a tightrope walker. If you look down, you run a very real risk of falling off the tightrope.
"You must focus on one step at a time and what you have to do to get to the other end of the rope. That is what we need to do now – forget about the outcome and concentrate on the process.
"I have experience on being on that tightrope and I know we need to make sure the players are clear about what they need to do to beat the opposition.
"They have to de-clutter their minds and understand what their job is and how they have got to perform. They must forget the significance of the outcome."
Full story www.thisisbristol.co.uk
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Championship Index 09/10
