Exeter Chiefs v Racing 92
Date: Sat 17 October 2020 - KO: 16:45 - Venue: Ashton Gate
THE PREVIEW:
There will be a new name on the Heineken Champions Cup trophy as first-time finalists, Exeter Chiefs, come up against TOP 14 heavyweights, Racing 92, Saturday 16.45 (local time) in the 25th anniversary final of the tournament that represents the pinnacle of the club game with the winners set to become the 12th club to lift the prized silverware.
England vs France - the 25th anniversary final will be the eighth Anglo-French decider with Premiership clubs currently leading the TOP 14 by five wins to two, and Ashton Gate will be the 13th stadium to host the showpiece match.
A truly global final as players from as many as 11 different countries (Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga and Wales) could feature in the final.
Chiefs points machine - Exeter are this season’s leading try and points scorers with 34 and 252 respectively.
City slicker - Bristol will become the 10th city after Cardiff, Bordeaux, Dublin, London, Paris, Edinburgh, Lyon, Bilbao and Newcastle to stage a tournament final.
Brotherly Love - Exeter’s Sam and Joe Simmonds are in line to become the eighth set of brothers to win the title. The seven to date are: Delon and Stefon Armitage (RC Toulon), Philippe and Olivier Carbonneau (Toulouse/Brive), Jan and Bryn Cunningham (Ulster), Denis and John Fogarty (Munster/Leinster), Rob and Dave Kearney (Leinster), Martin and Will Johnson (Leicester) and Billy and Mako Vunipola (Saracens).
Heineken Champions Cup - The Key Men?- Racing’s Virimi Vakatawa leads the tournament statistics categories in clean breaks (16) and defenders beaten (48).
- Heineken Star of the Match in Exeter’s semi-final win over Toulouse, Sam Simmonds, is this season’s top try scorer with seven.
- Exeter’s Dave Ewers has made the most tackles in the tournament this season with 118.
- Racing’s Wenceslas Lauret will make his fourth final appearance having started in 2016 and 2018, and having also finished on the losing side with Biarritz Olympique in 2010.
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| EXETER CHIEFS | RACING 92 | |
| 15. Stuart Hogg, | 15. Simon Zebo, | |
| 14. Jack Nowell, | 14. Louis Dupichot, | |
| 13. Henry Slade, | 13. Virimi Vakatawa, | |
| 12. Ian Whitten, | 12. Henry Chavancy (c), | |
| 11. Tom O'Flaherty, | 11. Juan Imhoff, | |
| 10. Joe Simmonds (c), | 10. Finn Russell, | |
| 9. Jack Maunder, | 9. Teddy Iribaren, | |
| 1. Alec Hepburn, | 1. Eddy Ben Arous, | |
| 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, | 2. Camille Chat, | |
| 3. Harry Williams, | 3. Georges Henri Colombe, | |
| 4. Jonny Gray, | 4. Bernard Le Roux, | |
| 5. Jonny Hill, | 5. Dominic Bird, | |
| 6. Dave Ewers, | 6. Wenceslas Lauret, | |
| 7. Jacques Vermeulen, | 7. Fabien Sanconnie, | |
| 8. Sam Simmonds. | 8. Antonie Claassen. | |
| Replacements: | Replacements: | |
| 16. Jack Yeandle, | 16. Teddy Baubigny, | |
| 17. Ben Moon, | 17. Hassane Kolingar, | |
| 18. Tom Francis, | 18. Ali Oz, | |
| 19. Sam Skinner, | 19. Donnacha Ryan, | |
| 20. Jannes Kirsten, | 20. Boris Palu, | |
| 21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, | 21. Maxime Machenaud, | |
| 22. Gareth Steenson, | 22. Olivier Klemenczak, | |
| 23. Ollie Devoto, | 23. Kurtley Beale, |
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
AR1: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
AR2: Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ian Davies (Wales)
Broadcasters: BT Sport/Channel 4/Virgin Media/FR 2/beIN SPORTS
