Exeter come into this year’s Varsity fixture against Loughborough with a chance to get one over on their arch-rivals, as well as attempt to secure an unbeaten home league season, adding extra flavour to a pot already bubbling with potential storylines and drama.

October’s early season encounter between the two sides saw Exeter put a dampener on Loughborough’s centenary celebrations, securing a hard-fought 31-16 bonus-point victory in Richmond in front of a large crowd packed with alumni from both universities.

Loughborough will be determined to seek revenge for that reverse and will be buoyed by their recent league results, last Friday’s 31-7 victory at struggling Northumbria followed on from a highly impressive 25-24 victory over Hartpury, which has allowed Loughborough to cement themselves in 5th place, 7 points behind Cardiff Met. With Met facing Leeds Beckett, in a 3rd vs 4th clash, Loughborough look well placed to mount an assault on the top 4 places should any of the sides currently occupying those positions falter in the final three rounds. They will be encouraged further by their post-Christmas form which has seen them take 14 points from an available 15, securing three consecutive wins.

For Exeter, tonight sees them return to Sandy Park for the first time since October, where a last-minute breakaway try from Arthur Relton and touchline conversion from Harry Bazalgette saw the side edge a titanic tussle with Leeds Beckett 23-21. All in attendance will be hoping for similar levels of fireworks tonight, although perhaps without the nerve-shattering tension that came with our last visit to the ground.

Exeter’s team sees two changes to the starting XV that eventually edged Cardiff University 32-29 at the Rubber Crumb last Wednesday, as hooker Harrison Fowke and winger Jordan Bond miss out through injury, replaced by Luke Bury and the returning Luke Mehson respectively. On the bench, there are also injury enforced changes, as seasoned prop Will Cutbill misses out following his shoulder injury last week, Jacob Morris coming onto the bench for what will be his first BUCS Super Rugby appearance as and when he enters the field. The only other change sees Chris Moore taking the place of Bury after his promotion to starting hooker.

This evening’s selection continues the theme of consistency for Exeter across the season, with 10 of the starting 15 from October’s Sandy Park fixture against Leeds Beckett starting this evening, with injury and international call-ups ruling out several others from increasing that figure further. It will also be a huge occasion for EURFC Club Captain George Strainge who, after last week’s impressive 76 minute effort against Cardiff and following Cutbill’s unfortunate injury, will become the only player to have featured in every BUCS Super Rugby game for Exeter this season, highlighting his consistency of performance throughout the campaign.

Despite the injury enforced changes, it is still an Exeter side brimming with confidence and experience, as they look to put together a performance worthy of such a momentous occasion to round off their regular season home fixtures in perfect style. With away tests at Swansea and Cardiff to bring the regular season to a close, the pressure is on to make sure they keep themselves afloat in 2nd place, ready to capitalise should Durham slip up at all in their final three fixtures.

Loughborough make a number of changes to their side from Friday's bonus-point win away at Northumbria, with Suvwe Obano moving from tighthead prop to number 8, Andrew Nathan Boye taking his place in the front row and Toby Adlington dropping to the bench. Cameron Boon comes in at second row for Owen Lloyd who reverts to the bench, with one final change to the starting XV, as Will Brown replaces Bamidele Fadahunsi on the left wing. On the bench, there are more changes as James Gallagher and Dan Ali come in for Josh Bill and John Woodward as replacement props and Silas Pill drops out of the matchday side. The three other changes on the bench see Matteo Petrozzi, Iwan Burgwin and Tom Smith drop out of the 23, replaced by Tom Ffitch and Tom Stapley as they look to freshen up the side after such a short turnaround from Friday's Super Rugby game at Kingston Park.

Last week, Exeter almost came up against a banana skin at home to a youthful Cardiff University side that pushed the reigning Super Rugby champions right to the wire, Exeter eventually securing all five points thanks to a late Harry Bazalgette penalty after some superb work in the air from the now injured Bond. It is disappointing for the winger that after such a sterling performance last week he is unable to continue that form at Sandy Park. However, it allows another electric player in the shape of Luke Mehson to return to the side, having missed the previous two Super Rugby fixtures through injury.

The game against Cardiff also saw an important milestone, as fly-half Harry Bazalgette notched his 200th points of the season for EURFC. This stat is made all the more impressive as the fly-half has only missed six kicks across the entire campaign thus far, with his metronomic-like boot and tactical relationship with inside-centre Joe Elderkin crucial to making Exeter tick this season.

Exeter hold the upper hand on Loughborough in recent meetings between the sides, winning four of the last five encounters, drawing the other. Loughborough though have shown they are no pushovers and made Exeter work extremely hard for their victory back in October after having led at half-time. If their recent form is anything to go by, tonight’s clash has all the ingredients to be an absolute humdinger.

There is a chance of rain throughout the day in the build-up to the match, although this is expected to disperse by the time kick-off arrives at 19.45.

With a packed-out main stand at Sandy Park, the side will need all the support they can from the crowd to roar them over the line, as the Super Rugby season begins to reach its crescendo. For a number of players, this will be their last Varsity fixture and they will be determined to go out with a bang at the biggest event in Exeter University’s sporting calendar.

Limited tickets remain for the match. However, they will still be available in the Forum from 9am-3pm, with the chance to exchange Fixr tickets for physical tickets as well.

This evening's clash is certainly not one you’ll want to miss!

Exeter University Side vs Loughborough University:

Starting XV:
15. Charlie Davies, 14. Arthur Relton, 13. Harry Tarling, 12. Joe Elderkin, 11. Luke Mehson, 10. Harry Bazalgette, 9. Will Yarnell, 8. Paul Schroter (Capt), 7. Charlie Wright, 6. Albert Slade, 5. Alex Roper, 4. Jamie Yates, 3. Matthew Johnson, 2. Luke Bury, 1. George Strainge

Replacements:
16. Chris Moore, 17. Jacob Morris, 18. Fin Richardson, 19. Frazier Kiff, 20. Cameron Bullard, 21. Pietro Di-Chio, 22. Francesco Scardamaglia, 23. Matt Blee

Loughborough University Side vs Exeter University:

Starting XV:
15. Will Kaye, 14. Will Sanders, 13. Nathan Pope, 12. Josh Lewis, 11. Will Brown, 10. Owen Waters, 9. Alex Glashan (Capt), 8. Suvwe Obano, 7. Austin Wallis, 6. Matt Wilkinson, 5. Tom Manz, 4. Cameron Boon, 3. Andrew Nathan Boye, 2. David Aniebonam, 1. Nick Rigby

Replacements:
16. Bryn Davies, 17. James Gallagher, 18. Dan Ali, 19. Owen Lloyd, 20. Toby Adlington, 21. Will Lane, 22. Tom Ffitch, 23. Tom Stapley