Warriors Head Coach Richard Hill has admitted he has been impressed with Exeter Chief’s transition to Aviva Premiership rugby since the Devon side were promoted to England’s top division in 2010.
Exeter secured an Aviva Premiership place for the first time in their history after beating Bristol in the RFU Championship play-off final.
In their first two seasons amongst England’s elite, the club have finished in eighth and fifth position respectively.
And Hill believes that Warriors’ rivals have exceeded all expectations. He said: “I’ve been very impressed with Exeter. They’ve performed a lot better than many people thought they would do when they were promoted.
“This season I think they’re finding the rigours of the Heineken Cup and the expectations on their shoulders a bit more difficult but overall they’ve been superb.”
Hill said that the Chiefs don’t rely on individual performers, unlike many of the other top sides, and instead focus on organisation and work-rate.
He continued: “With other teams you have to be very careful about certain game breakers who need to be watched closely because they can almost win matches on their own.
“Exeter don’t really have too many of those players but what they do have is a very well organised group of players who function well.
“They’ve got a very clear playing strategy and they perform it to a very high standard. They do not make many mistakes and they operate as a very efficient machine which will come at you time and time again.”
Warriors lost both of their fixtures against Exeter last season, with the Chiefs winning 15-9 at Sandy Park last December.
But Hill is confident that Warriors have learnt from the matches last season and said his side will travel to Devon looking for their first away victory of the campaign.
“Last season we did not concede at try at Exeter and only lost the game by a narrow margin,” added Hill.
“Tomorrow we hope to be equally as competitive and hopefully we’ll come out with a positive result.
“This year has been a bit tougher for Exeter as teams are slightly wiser to the way they’re going to play, but we expect a very tough battle tomorrow.”
“They’ve got a very clear playing strategy and they perform it to a very high standard. They do not make many mistakes and they operate as a very efficient machine which will come at you time and time again.”