After what I suspect was a disappointing start for them this season, Exeter have found some form just recently, reflected by their resounding 38-22 win over the Pertemps Bees in the last round of matches.

Exeter have a good pack of forwards, two strong centres in the Fatialofa brothers and an experienced fly half in Tony Yapp, who will ensure that they play in the right areas of the pitch whenever possible.

Following the first set of six league games, we have raised the bar in terms of the standards the player's have set themselves for the next six in National Division One.

We are looking for six wins and a minimum of four bonus points; this will not be easy with away trips to Rotherham, Bedford and Plymouth amongst those fixtures as well as a home game against the Cornish Pirates, but our standards have to be high if we are to achieve our aims in the future.

Monday of this week saw the draw for the next round of the Powergen National Trophy; a draw that very kindly sends us to Sedgley Park the week before we are due to travel there for our National Division One game at Park Lane. After this weekend, we will be on the road the next three weekends travelling to Rotherham (29th October) and Sedgley Park twice (5th and 12th November), before returning to the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday 20th November to take on the Cornish Pirates.

Something else to look forward to in the fixture list is that we have been able to agree with the Samoan Rugby Union the opportunity to play Samoa on Wednesday 23rd November at the Twickenham Stoop, kick-off 7.45pm.

This game, prior to Samoa's international against England the following weekend, will be an ideal opportunity for us to develop an 'ongoing' relationship with the Samoan Union, hopefully to the benefit of both parties in the future. Full details about the game, including ticketing information, will be announced shortly.

On the injury front, there are a number of players unavailable this weekend. Will Greenwood, Tom Williams, George Harder, Pablo Bouza and Chris Robshaw are all out with relatively short-term injuries or illness, with Henry Barratt being our only long-term casualty.

Fit again though are Ugo Monye, Tom Guest, Mike Worsley and James Hayter, all of whom if not involved on Saturday will take some part in the Second XV game against Cambridge University at the Stoop on Monday evening (24th October ), kick-off 7.30pm.

Everyone is really looking forward to returning to the Stoop on Saturday. The support the team has received, both home and away, has been fantastic so far and I look forward to seeing and hearing the same this weekend.