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Friday, November 21, 2008, 10:00
The 34-year-old back, who is one of eight changes made to the Chiefs' line-up from which that won 37-20 at Newbury last Saturday, will make his first National League One start in a year this weekend.
The former Newport-Gwent Dragons star returns to the fray having made a fleeting appearance from the bench a week ago. His return, however, is music to the ears of Exeter's Director of Rugby Pete Drewett, who is pleased to see the former Wales A international's back in harness.
"Ben has worked very hard to come back from a bad injury and it's pleasing to see him return," said Drewett yesterday.
Breeze, who has already made 30 appearances for the Devon club, is aiming to return better than before his injury setback and Drewett is certain that will be the case.
"Ben will be coming back fitter, faster and stronger than ever, and we look forward to benefiting from that," said Drewett.
Fresh from their win at Monks Lane, Drewett – not for the first time this season – again rotates his squad for their latest on-field action.
As well as the inclusion of Breeze, there are also starts for Mark Fatialofa, Gareth Steenson, Clive Stuart-Smith, Brett Sturgess, John Andress, Richie Pugh and influential skipper Richard Baxter.
It is, however, a statistic that does not worry Drewett too much. He said: "Lots of players in the squad have made starts for the first team, so we're sharing the load essentially.
"In what is potentially a 35-game season, it's good to have a group of players who are all capable of stepping in and doing well."
Last week's bonus point win at Newbury brought plenty of positives, but at the same time still left work to be done ahead of tomorrow's game against the Midlanders.
"We're really pleased to have scored 37 points away from home, but similarly we're disappointed with conceding the two tries we did, so we've worked on our defence this week a bit," said Drewett.
Opponents Coventry, much like Newbury, find themselves at the wrong end of the table, but despite their position the Chiefs cannot afford to take them lightly according to Drewett.
"You only have to look at some of their results so far this season [like the 16-0 defeat of the Pirates] to recognise they are a dangerous team.
"They, like any other team in this division, have the capabilities of beating anyone in the league on their day. We've looked at them this week and we know what we want to do, we're trying to play a quick game, which seems to be improving each week."
Not only does tomorrow show the welcome return of Breeze, but the club will also recognise another milestone, that of centre Mark Fatialofa's 100th appearance for the Chiefs.
The Samoan, who will be appearing in front of the home fans at Sandy Park for the first time since reaching his century, will receive a memento to commemorate his achievement.
"Mark has been, and continues to be a great servent to the club both on and off the pitch." said Drewett. "It's a proud moment for Mark and a fantastic achivement as well, so it should be a great occasion for him."
Following last week's results, the gap between Exeter in second, and leaders Leeds has closed to only three points, before the sides meet at Headingley on December 20.
Despite the obvious positivity that can be taken from a small margin, Drewett insists the gap means very little at the moment. He said: "We're chasing Leeds and we are getting as close as we can every week, it's encouraging to only be three points behind them.
"But at this stage of the season it means nothing, and we just have to keep focusing on what comes each weekend, trying to build on a result and a performance, that starts with Coventry tomorrow."
Chiefs: B Breeze; N Sestaret, P McKenzie, M Fatialofa, M Jess; G Steenson, C Stuart-Smith; B Sturgess, S Blythe, J Andress; L Stevenson, D Tuohy; T Johnson, R Pugh, R Baxter (capt). Replacements (from): N Clark, C Budgen, T Skelding, T Hayes, E Lewsey, D Gray, T Bedford, C Slade.
TICKETS for next month's derby encounter between the Chiefs and visiting Cornish Pirates are selling fast according to Sandy Park officials.
Latest sales reveal the festive fixture to be played at Sandy Park on Saturday, December 27, is almost sold out with just 200 tickets left in the south end of the East Terrace and the final batch of tickets in the covered seating of the South West Communications Stand now on sale.
Exeter Chiefs' chief executive Tony Rowe said: "This game is always a popular game and it is proving even more so with it falling on Christmas weekend when attending a sports fixture is part of the festive celebrations.
"This game is an all-ticket event as we expect this match to be our first sell-out following the addition of the South West Communications Stand, which has boosted our capacity to 7,300."
Supporters can buy their tickets online at www.exeterchiefs.co.uk or by calling the ticket office on 01392 890890 between 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday.
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Ben Breeze will be making his first appearance for Exeter Chiefs tomorrow after a year out
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