EXETER Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter believes his new signings have already shown they can add the quality his squad needs ahead of their competitive return against Bristol Bears on Saturday (3pm).

Baxter has named five debutants in his matchday 23 for Saturday’s second-round PREM Rugby Cup clash, with summer arrivals Sam Wolstenholme, Will Butt and Harry Wilson all starting the clash at Sandy Park.

Fellow newcomers Sam Harris and Jake Murray are named among the replacements.

Baxter was encouraged by the performances of his new recruits in last weekend’s friendly against Scarlets at Sandy Park.

“They’re all just very good rugby players,” he said. “The point of bringing them in was to add that quality in depth, and I think they showed that against Scarlets.

“I thought Sam was very good, accurate around his speed of pass. Will had a particularly good game with his defensive reads and looked strong in attack, as did Harry alongside running the lineout for us.”

Wolstenholme starts at scrum-half alongside club centurion Harvey Skinner, while Butt partners Ollie Batson in the centres.

Wilson lines up in the back row alongside Ethan Roots and Wales international Kane James.

Club captain Jack Yeandle makes his long-awaited return at hooker, having not played since suffering an injury in April. He is joined in the front row by Ethan Burger and Josh Iosefa-Scott, with Lewis Pearson and 20-year-old Oscar Beckerleg forming the second row.

Will Haydon-Wood starts at full-back, with Tommy Wyatt and Olly Woodburn on the wings. Wyatt made his first appearance for 16 months against Scarlets last weekend.

Chiefs missed the opening round of the PREM Rugby Cup but now begin their competitive campaign against Bristol.

Baxter admits the Scarlets game exposed some of the shortcomings caused by a shortened pre-season, particularly in the physical battle.

“More than anything else, I think last weekend showed how short our pre-season had been in a sense of, Scarlets were a lot better around the contact areas,” he said.

“However, I think we’ve got through that now, and we’ve addressed that in order to push on now with our programme of competitive fixtures.”

Chiefs: W Haydon-Wood; T Wyatt, O Batson, W Butt, T Wyatt; H Skinner, S Wolstenholme; E Burger, J Yeandle (capt), J Iosefa-Scott; L Pearson, O Beckerleg; H Wilson, E Roots, K James. Replacements: L Gulley, W Goodrick-Clarke, J Roots, J Bailey, F Worley-Brady, J Murray, B Coen, S Harris