Josh Still Carries Hurt of Leeds Game
Josh Drauniniu returns to actions for his club side, Exeter Chiefs this weekend when they take on table topping Leeds. The following article is courtesy of Exeter Chiefs, for more articles log on to: www.exeterchiefs.co.uk England sevens returnee Josh Drauniniu has said he has carried the hurt of Exeter Chiefs’ one-point defeat to Leeds Carnegie since that game on the second league weekend of the season. The winger is back into the starting line-up after a couple of weeks away with England sevens in Dubai and then added time to recover from the trip. Drauniniu said: “This is one of the hardest games of the season for us. Leeds are a really good team. They came down here and beat us by one point and that still hurts. We will carry that hurt with us until this weekend. “I played with two of the Leeds boys in the sevens and I am looking forward to meeting them again.” Drauniniu was not involved in the 12-12 draw to Esher at Sandy Park last weekend and is one of eight changes to the side that ran out last weekend. Sean Marsden is back in the No 15 shirt with Paul McKenzie reclaiming his spot in the centre. Gareth Steenson will also start at fly-half. In the pack, a new second row sees Lewis Stevenson and Tom Hayes come in with Tom Johnson moving into the back row and Sam Blythe replacing hooker Neil Clark, who broke his ankle last weekend. On the bench, hooker Simon Alcott returns after several months out of the game with a pectoral injury. Exeter Chiefs’ director of rugby Pete Drewett said: “Esher are a good side and they showed they are getting better and better. They put us to the test but we learn from things like that very quickly and we have got a superb game ahead of us to get us motivated. “This is a good opportunity. We love playing against the best. Leeds are the best in the league and we want to go up there, perform well and play some good rugby. “There is no doubt about it that when Leeds came down here, it was a great game of rugby. They started well but we competed very well for large parts of the game too. We will go up there knowing they have vastly improved but so have we. It will be a special day for us and a special day for the 500 supporters we have got going up there.” Leeds Carnegie v Exeter Chiefs Saturday, December 20, 2008 – KO 2pm Headingley 15 Sean Marsden 14 Nic Sestaret 13 Paul McKenzie 12 Tom Bedford 11 Josh Drauniniu - Royal Navy 10 Gareth Steenson 9 Clive Stuart-Smith 1 Brett Sturgess 2 Sam Blythe 3 Chris Budgen - Army 4 Lewis Stevenson 5 Tom Hayes 6 Tom Johnson 7 Richie Pugh 8 Richie Baxter (capt) Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott 17 Dan Parkes 18 Dan Tuohy 19 Chris Cracknell 20 Kevin Barrett 21 Danny Gray 22 Matt Jess