| Venue:GGL Stadium Date:Sunday, 23 January Kick-off: 17:30 GMT |
| Coverage:Live commentary on BBC Radio Devon, and the BBC Sport website |
Henry Slade was selected in Exeter’s team to face Montpellier in France. This removes any doubts about his availability under Covid vaccination rules.
Players must be vaccinated in France and Italy where England plays Six Nations Tests over the next few weeks.
Slade teams up with Sean O’Brien at midfield. Sam Nixon is the prop for Josh Iosefa Scott.
Wings Jack Nowell (left) and Tom O’Flaherty (right) join Stuart Hogg, who is full-back, in the back three. Sam Simmonds is number eight in a team largely unchanged from the emphatic win over Glasgow last weekend.
Zach Mercer, a former number eight in Bath, starts for Montpellier alongside France internationals Mohamed Haouas and Paul Willemse. Yacouba Camara is also part of Montpellier’s pack.
Exeter, who thrashed Montpellier 42-6 in the teams’ meeting in December, They will make it to the last 16 if they avoid losing.
Even if the Chiefs lose, they will still advance to the knockout stage, except for an unlikely sequence of results elsewhere.
What they have to say
Rob Baxter, Exeter director of rugby: “I don’t believe we’ve ever been to France without having a difficult game.
We have been there and won some games but we have also lost. We know from past experience that there will be blood and thunder. This is what we need to prepare for if you want to have the best chance of winning.
Line-ups
Montpellier: Bouthier; N’gandebe, Reilhac, Serfontein, Rattez; Foursans, Aprasidze; Forletta, Paenga-Amosa, Haouas, Chalureau, Willemse, Van Rensburg, Camara (c), Mercer.
Replacements: Guirado, Rodgers,Thomas, Becognee, Reinach, Garbisi, Darmon, Verhaeghe,
Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, O’Brien, O’Flaherty; J Simmonds, Maunder; Moon, Cowan-Dickie (c), Nixon, S Skinner, Lonsdale, Ewers, Kirsten, S Simmonds.
Replacements: Innard, Kenny, Schickerling, Tshiunza, Armand, S Maunder, H Skinner, Gilbert-Hendrickson.