Defensive effort was just as good

Exeter Chiefs will face sterner tests than their opening-round thrashing of London Welsh but prop Tomas Francis insists the Aviva Premiership Rugby play-offs are not beyond his side's reach this season.

The Chiefs dispatched the newly-promoted Exiles with striking ease, accumulating seven tries and keeping their opponents scoreless in a 52-0 victory at the Kassam Stadium.

Although Francis was delighted to see the Chiefs' attacking plans come to fruition, he highlighted the team's determination not to allow Welsh any consolation points as equally significant.

And the 22-year-old tight-head believes this combination will carry the Chiefs back into elite European rugby and potentially even further towards challenging for the Aviva Premiership Rugby title.

"The most important thing for us was that in the last five minutes we were still digging in to prevent them scoring a try, even though there was nothing to play for," he said. "We have been doing a lot of work all pre-season on our attacking game and it was great to see us put that into action in the first match.

"Getting back into the highest level of European competition is the minimum we are expecting this year and I know the club were disappointed to miss out last season. A top four finish is not beyond us at all though. We will have to see how the next few games go but we can definitely be up there at the end."

Francis made his Aviva Premiership Rugby debut in the game against London Welsh, having joined the Chiefs from Championship side London Scottish ahead of the 2014/15 campaign.

And the prop believes the work ethic at his new club has helped him settle in quickly as well as providing the foundations for the Chiefs' recent and continued development.

"The club has had a lot of success in recent years and the reason behind it is the attitude, passion and hard work that everyone associated with the club puts in," he said.

"The players feel comfortable here and there is a good buzz around the camp. Rob Baxter and all the coaching staff are the first to training and the last to leave, which inspires the rest of us to perform."