Premiership 2026/27 · Round 2
Bath
Exeter Chiefs
Recreation Ground, Bath
Championship Standings
Verified SofaScore Premiership Rugby standings after one round, retrieved before the 2 October cutoff: Bath 3rd on 5, Exeter Chiefs 7th on 1. The early table is context; its points gap is not scored again after the same results have already influenced form.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Northampton Saints | 1 | 1 | 0 | +33 | 5 |
| 2 |  Gloucester | 1 | 1 | 0 | +21 | 5 |
| 3 | Bath | 1 | 1 | 0 | +16 | 5 |
| 4 |  Bristol Bears | 1 | 1 | 0 | +10 | 5 |
| 5 |  Saracens | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 5 |
| 6 |  Leicester Tigers | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 |
| 7 | Exeter Chiefs | 1 | 0 | 1 | -21 | 1 |
| 8 |  Newcastle Red Bulls | 1 | 0 | 1 | -33 | 1 |
| 9 |  Sale Sharks | 1 | 0 | 1 | -10 | 0 |
| 10 |  Harlequins | 1 | 0 | 1 | -16 | 0 |
Bath
W3, D0, L2Five most recent retrieved league games, crossing the off-season; no cup or provincial fixtures: 5 completed matches, 2026-05-16–2026-09-25, 171 for and 99 against. Bath’s 33–17 away win is the more persuasive start than Exeter’s 24–45 home defeat. The older five-match records are almost level; this is a modest current-form edge, not a reset of the entire season.
Exeter Chiefs
W3, D0, L2Five most recent retrieved league games, crossing the off-season; no cup or provincial fixtures: 5 completed matches, 2026-05-31–2026-09-26, 135 for and 135 against. The latest result was Exeter Chiefs 24–45 Gloucester. The displayed sample contains 1 home wins from 2 home games and 2 away wins; opponent strength, venue and changed selections limit how directly the old results transfer.
Head-to-head: retrieved league sample
4 – 0 – 2
Bath wins · Draws · Exeter Chiefs wins; 6 Premiership Rugby meetings, all venues, 2024-04-20–2026-06-13
Bath (4)Exeter won the two latest league meetings, including 27–26 at this ground in June. Bath won the previous four in the six-game sample, so neither a Bath procession nor an Exeter stranglehold fits the evidence. This is the stated retrieved sample, not an all-time record.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-13 | Premiership Rugby | Bath 26–27 Exeter Chiefs |
| 2026-05-10 | Premiership Rugby | Exeter Chiefs 35–12 Bath |
| 2026-01-03 | Premiership Rugby | Bath 33–26 Exeter Chiefs |
| 2025-04-19 | Premiership Rugby | Exeter Chiefs 24–26 Bath |
| 2024-11-30 | Premiership Rugby | Bath 19–15 Exeter Chiefs |
| 2024-04-20 | Premiership Rugby | Exeter Chiefs 14–26 Bath |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: Bath 23.7 – Exeter Chiefs 23.5 across these 6 meetings, oriented to the report teams regardless of venue.
Extended Form
BathW13, D0, L6
Retrieved Premiership Rugby sample within the last twelve months, 19 games, 2025-10-03–2026-09-25; partial provider history, not a claim to cover every fixture. 2026-09-25: Harlequins 17–33 Bath; 2026-06-13: Bath 26–27 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-06-06: Bath 24–22 Leicester Tigers; 2026-05-29: Bristol Bears 21–19 Bath; 2026-05-16: Bath 69–12 Newcastle Red Bulls; 2026-05-10: Exeter Chiefs 35–12 Bath; 2026-04-25: Northampton Saints 41–38 Bath; 2026-04-18: Bath 48–15 Harlequins; 2026-03-29: Sale Sharks 26–31 Bath; 2026-03-20: Bath 62–15 Saracens; 2026-01-23: Gloucester 26–30 Bath; 2026-01-03: Bath 33–26 Exeter Chiefs; 2025-12-27: Bath 21–41 Northampton Saints; 2025-12-21: Newcastle Red Bulls 14–50 Bath; 2025-11-30: Saracens 29–36 Bath; 2025-10-25: Bath 40–15 Bristol Bears; 2025-10-18: Leicester Tigers 22–20 Bath; 2025-10-11: Bath 38–17 Gloucester; 2025-10-03: Bath 28–16 Sale Sharks
Bath scored 658 and conceded 437 in this explicitly bounded sample. Changes across the off-season mean this is background evidence; the named current XV and reserves are assessed separately.
Exeter ChiefsW12, D0, L8
Retrieved Premiership Rugby sample within the last twelve months, 20 games, 2025-10-04–2026-09-26; partial provider history, not a claim to cover every fixture. 2026-09-26: Exeter Chiefs 24–45 Gloucester; 2026-06-20: Northampton Saints 26–17 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-06-13: Bath 26–27 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-06-06: Exeter Chiefs 32–12 Saracens; 2026-05-31: Leicester Tigers 26–35 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-05-16: Harlequins 41–24 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-05-10: Exeter Chiefs 35–12 Bath; 2026-04-26: Gloucester 34–31 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-04-18: Exeter Chiefs 28–35 Northampton Saints; 2026-03-27: Newcastle Red Bulls 14–38 Exeter Chiefs; 2026-03-21: Exeter Chiefs 26–14 Sale Sharks; 2026-01-24: Exeter Chiefs 3–8 Bristol Bears; 2026-01-03: Bath 33–26 Exeter Chiefs; 2025-12-28: Exeter Chiefs 24–10 Leicester Tigers; 2025-12-20: Saracens 24–30 Exeter Chiefs; 2025-11-28: Sale Sharks 26–27 Exeter Chiefs; 2025-10-25: Exeter Chiefs 39–12 Gloucester; 2025-10-19: Exeter Chiefs 38–0 Harlequins; 2025-10-11: Bristol Bears 18–14 Exeter Chiefs; 2025-10-04: Exeter Chiefs 38–15 Newcastle Red Bulls
Exeter Chiefs scored 556 and conceded 431 in this explicitly bounded sample. Changes across the off-season mean this is background evidence; the named current XV and reserves are assessed separately.
Bath XV
Redpath starts beside Lawrence, with Russell directing the attack. Hill, Reid and Coetzee offer three distinct loose-forward options off the bench. Selected XV and 8 replacements verified from the retained announcement/match-centre source (planetrugby.com), retrieved 2 October 2026 at 14:26 UTC. The secondary source mistypes de Glanville’s number as 1; its own wing description and the complete 1–15 selection resolve him to 11.
Exeter Chiefs XV
Wyatt returns for his first league appearance since May 2025, with Woodburn moving to full-back. Exeter retain their starting pack after conceding 45 to Gloucester. Selected XV and 8 replacements verified from the retained announcement/match-centre source (exeterchiefs.co.uk), retrieved 2 October 2026 at 14:26 UTC.
Key Matchups
Obano–Dunn–Stuart against Burger–Yeandle–Iosefa-Scott favours Bath on selected front-row experience; Frost, Kirk and Griffin provide the replacement unit. This is a selection judgment, not a measured scrum-success statistic. Russell with Redpath and Lawrence offers Bath the clearer attacking direction against Skinner, Butt and Slade. Feyi-Waboso’s finishing threat keeps the edge moderate. Wyatt’s return changes Exeter’s width; early scrum parity would reduce Bath’s strongest selected advantage. Edges here are personnel judgments; overlapping unit rows are not extra scorecard points.
Match Forecast
Bath get the call through their front row and midfield, rather than through a rivalry they plainly did not control last season. Obano and Stuart should give Russell enough clean possession to find Lawrence outside the Exeter centres. A nine-point margin is a reasonable working call, not a promise that Chiefs will fold. The seven-dimension net is +7; the unmodified two-way house output is 78% for Bath, with no separate draw probability.
The 27–26 June defeat at the Rec is the obvious warning. Exeter retain their pack and restore Wyatt, so there is no basis for treating them as a depleted touring side. If Slade and Feyi-Waboso turn Bath’s attacking errors into territory, the favourite will have to win this late.
Bath by 9.
Complete: Selected XVs and replacement counts are verified; this describes source completeness, not forecast certainty.
legacy-house-2026-09-v1; raw home probability 0.7754, raw home margin +8.95. Unmodified legacy model probability and raw margin direction; rounded projected margin. Missing selections are disclosed where applicable.
Median 50 points across 9 distinct completed Premiership Rugby games, 2026-05-16–2026-09-26; adjusted -6 for Bath’s Russell-led territorial control and Exeter retaining their pack after the opener; six fewer points than the sample median is a disclosed editorial expectation, not an inferred weather effect. Rounded to an integer total of 45 compatible with the 9-point projection. This is a scoring projection, not a validated total or interval.
The ±5-point editorial band is not a validated confidence interval; its coverage has not been measured.