Sturge set for the off

By Mark Stevens

Brett Sturgess returns to his old hunting ground at Franklin's Gardens this Saturday hopeful that the Exeter Chiefs can get their Aviva Premiership campaign off to a flying start.

With a gruelling pre-season now complete and put to bed for another year, Devon's finest are ready to embark on their fourth year in English rugby's top flight against one of the division's most established names, Northampton Saints.

For Sturgess, Saturday's showdown at the Gardens not only kicks-off what he hopes will be another big year for him and his club, but it also heralds the start of what promises to be the toughest Premiership campaign to date.

"It seems a while ago since we came back to join up with the guys, but pre-season has been really good and we've got a lot of it," said the highly-rated prop. "Now, we're into the start of the competition and as a player that is always something you look forward to. For me personally, when the fixturess came out and I saw we had Saints up, I had a lot of family and friends phoning up straight away and saying they wanted to be there.

"Being a former Saints player it just adds to the excitement as it's always nice to go back to your hometown club and look to give a good account of yourself."

As they proved last season, Northampton are a formidable force within the Premiership and their impressive home record make this weekend's fixture a daunting opening test for Rob Baxter's side. However, Sturgess says the mood is upbeat within the Chiefs camp ahead of their trip and they will be looking to build on their tag of never being beaten on an opening day in the top flight.

In previous years Gloucester, Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks have all been accounted for first up, but for that tag to remain intact the Chiefs will need to record a first-ever win at the home of their rivals.

"Of course playing Saints at their place first up will be a big task for us, but you could say playing any team first up would be tough because everyone is fresh and raring to go," said Sturgess. "We've had a good pre-season coming into the game and last week was a tough game for us against Glasgow, so that's set us up nicely for this weekend.

"This week we've ironed out a few issues from last week's game and now we're really looking forward to getting stuck into the action."

And with both clubs have strengthened their resources sufficiently during the close season, Sturgess is predicting a mouth-watering fixture for both clubs on day one.

"Each year we've progressed and move forward as a club," added Sturgess. "Obviously you lose players at the end of each season for whatever reasons, but the players we have brought in this year have really added to the squad and knitted in well both on and off the field.

"All around the club there is a real excitement right now and the hope that we can again improve and be a force within the division."

The Chiefs will name their opening day line-up tomorrow at noon.