Exeter Chiefs play Sale Sharks at the CorpAcq Stadium on Friday night in Round Four of the 2025/26 PREM Rugby CupWill Rigg of Exeter Chiefs scores his side’s second try. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Will Rigg and Paul Brown-Bampoe are set to be given opportunities to fight their way back into first-team reckoning for Exeter Chiefs by getting a run out away at Sale Sharks in the PREM Rugby Cup on Friday night.

Exeter Chiefs have started the Gallagher PREM season in fine form, sitting third in the standings before the league took a break during the international window over the Autumn. And now, having suffered very few injuries in the first block of games, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter is revelling in having legitimate competition for places across the park with the likes of Will Haydon-Wood and summer signing Charlie Chapman looking to lay down markers, having all found themselves on the edges of the senior squad.

Baxter said: “We’re in a decent position in the PREM. The squad itself looks a stronger group of players who are playing better than last year.

“We’ve got a lot of international players away, which is what happens when you start to have better seasons, more people are away. So we’re looking at the PREM Cup a little bit more like we’ve done in the past, where it’s an opportunity for players who haven’t been playing so much recently to get more game time. That’s certainly how we’ll look at it against Sale.”

Amongst those internationals away this weekend are England centre Henry Slade, Italian trio Stephen Varney, Ross Vintcent and Andrea Zambonin, Wales second row Dafydd Jenkins, Australian duo Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper, and loosehead prop Scott Sio is set to make his Samoa debut this weekend, having switched international alliances from Australia, for whom he previously made 74 appearances. Last weekend, Ethan Roots, Josh Hodge and Greg Fisilau all ran out for England A in a 31-14 defeat to the All Blacks XV at the Recreation in Bath, with a fixture against Spain in Valladolid this weekend as well.

Baxter continued: “This Friday we’ve got a nice combination of some good young players who are playing well but we’ve also got a group of senior players, or guys in and around the senior squad who, because the PREM group have played well and been consistent, and we’ve managed to not pick up too many injuries through that period, have not played. They get a chance to put their hand up, which creates strength in the squad, and that’s how you want to grow going forward.

“It’s guys like Will Rigg who started the season with a foot injury. It’s guys like Campbell Ridl who broke his hand in a really good warm-up game.

“Paul Brown-Bampoes is fully fit and available now and ready to go. For Paul, it’s a combination of a couple of things. He missed a couple of weeks of training due to illness, and Woody [Olly Woodburn] came in [from an ACL injury] and did really well. And so, you know, now he’s back in contention as well, which is great.”

“I’m hoping to come out of this PREM Cup period with rather than having 23 or 25 guys we know are playing regularly and bang on form, we come out of there with 35 guys who we know are ready and up and running, and we can use over the next period of Europe and the PREM; because the next challenge for us is you’ve got international players returning, you go into one round of the Premiership, then two rounds of Europe, and then you’re in the Christmas period.

“This is quite an important period for us. I probably think the teams that are going to be genuine top four contenders, you’ll probably see them emerge over this broken period.”