Bath
REDEMPTION TIME: BATH V EXETER
Pepper: prominent
By Rokobilly
September 29 2026
Whoever drew up Bath’s fixtures for the start of the season clearly has an eye for a good story. 108 days after the most famous drop goal that never was, back we all go to The Rec for a repeat fixture against Exeter. Redemption time. Except, of course, not all victories are created equal. A win on Friday won’t make up for that expensive day out sitting on broken trains just to watch Saints beat Chiefs at Twickenham.
Exeter finished last season as the Prem’s form club and one seemingly on the right road to silverware having largely disbanded the team that brought them the Prem and European Double back in 2020. Baxter’s Midas touch was seemingly back and was being supported by considerable off the pitch investment. The future at Junction 30 of the M5 looked very bright indeed.
All of which will mean their result in round one will be incredibly frustrating for all concerned. A record defeat at home to Gloucester was not in the plan. Of particular concern will be the defence out wide.
Gloucester made hay with cross field kicks with the Chiefs back three defence worryingly out of sorts. For all Feyi-Waboso’s talents with the ball, he won’t have enjoyed watching his ‘tackle’ on Will Joseph during Monday’s video review.
You can bet Finn will have taken notice of the space Gloucester exploited.
Injuries have certainly had an impact on Exeter’s back three: Cam Ridl, so impressive in last season, has ruptured an ACL and fellow wing Paul Brown-Bampoe is recovering from heel surgery.
At the other end of the team sheet the re-signed Georgian prop Nika Abuladze has pulled a calf weakening the scrum. More important than any of the above might be the unavailability of the influential Aussie pair who starred in the Chief’s run to the final. Tom Hooper will be back later in the season but Len Ikitau has returned to the Brumbies.
The Sandy Park bubble of pre-season positivity may have burst but no doubt they will travel fully motivated to get back on track and well aware that Bath have a shown a soft underbelly in recent meetings.
Which brings us to the Blue Black and Whites. Unlike Exeter we banked five league points last week in what was ultimately a comfortable but far from perfect start to the season. Most of Quins points came from broken play and most of Bath’s from a powerful maul. Those of us looking forward to a revamped attacking shape were frustrated by repeated scrappy errors. “Room for improvement” would be a fair assessment in that department.
What might be more important this week is our half-backs ability to control the game and the narrative in Ben Spencer’s absence. Twice last year we threw away four try leads at home to Exeter and even if we start quickly again on Friday, our opponents will feel they are still in the game.
Paul O’Connell once described elite rugby as the art of making excellent decisions whilst under immense physical and mental pressure. Leadership matters and we need our older heads to be there and thinking clearly in the final quarter.
Russell is obviously key in this area but he will need his 9s to play their part and some of the more grizzled forwards to step up too.
The latest Bath injury update had bad news for Sam Underhill who joins Jamie Bhatti on the long-term rehab list. Vilikesa Sela is out until late November. In the backs Spencer, Muir and Hennessy are all some weeks away and Arundell is unlikely to be risked.
That suggests we might see a similar back line to the one at Quins but a few changes in the pack. I’d expect Dunn, Roux and Pepper to play prominent roles.
Finally, a word for two former Bath players who may make the Exeter XXIII. I am sure we all hope Will Butt and Sam Harris have very successful seasons in Devon, but should they be selected, absolute stinkers on Friday night. Save the MOTM performances for Saints and Sarries, lads.
COYB.
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29/09/2026 22:07
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Sums it up nicely. Chiefs will be seething about last week and desperate to show their mettle. Baxter has already issued a rallying cry. Expect them to come out snorting.
I expect they will provide a sterner physical test up front than Quins did so the likes of Roux, Dunn, Pepper (possibly Coetzee too) may well be called on. Certainly our back 5 forwards last week would appear lightweight against a traditional Chiefs pack.
It seems illness may have played a part in Exeter's woes last week. We certainly cannot afford any whiff of complacency.
Maybe somebody has been practising a drop goal?
PG
Mentioned in another thread but if Arundell not ready I would like to see Offiah or Griffin get an opportunity. No major objections to de Glanville on the wing and understand getting senior pros into the side but also think we need to start having a look at these prospects.
Baxter loves a back row selection of the three biggest lads he can manage so think the likes of Pepper, Bayliss and Reid will have important jobs at whatever point in the game they feature to get their opposite numbers working hard in the other direction
Expect Exeter to really make us work for it as they usually do but missing PBB, Ridl, Ikitau, Hooper and Zambonin makes them a very different prospect to the team we faced in that semi so we should have a bit too much for them this week and be able to get the points
"If you go 7:1 or 6:2 you want your backs to be able to stay on the field for 80 minutes" Team selection could throw up a surprise or two if he's thinking of a 7:1 bench.
The Exeter team that beat you at the Rec last season was a very different one to this and we are nowhere near the performance levels we were at last season.
The illness in our camp has been touched upon but it has been compounded by the fact this is a short turnaround week for us so we also have one day less recovery which with the illness going around is the last thing we need!
The bug cant be blamed for all of the issues we had last weekend. Bug or not we didn't play well but one thing i have learned is to never completely write us off but as it stands now i will be happy with a reaction to the performance last week and maybe a point or being greedy 2 points!
Without Unders, I'd have a beefy backrow of Hill, Pepper and DdP with Reid and Bayliss off the bench. Possibly Coetzee at 23 if available.
In the backs, if Arundel doesn’t make it I wonder if we could see Santi on the wing. TdG is the best defensive 15 and Santi coming in-field cutting lines off Finn/Mojo could spring a few surprises.
I'd also be tempted to start BvdL in this one. The physical battle upfront will be more evenly matched this week. A 9 with an eye for a break and more of a zip to his pass will facilitate a more open game, which is what we want this week I feel.
Santi
Tdg
Lawrence
Mojo
Big joe
Finn
Tcs
Beno
Dunn
Stuart
Roux
Ewels
Hill
Pepper
Du preez
Bench: kepu, kirk, griffin, richards, reid, bvdl, cam, bayliss
Like TRS i would not be upset to see aomeone like griffin on the wing
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