Chiefs are up to the task - Welch

Lock Damian Welch has warned ASM Clermont Auvergne that they will be facing the strongest Exeter Chiefs side he has seen.

It's second in the Premiership against first in the Top14 at Sandy Park on Saturday. The Chiefs are level on five points with the Champions Cup nearly men, but have played a game more after an opening round defeat to Ospreys and a home triumph over Brodeaux-Begles.

The Welsh side lead the way by a single point, but Welch reckons the Chiefs are ready to make their mark in Europe's premier rugby competition.

He said: "I'd like to think this is the best Exeter Chiefs squad I've seen, Rob and the coaching staff have been adding to it year-on-year. In areas where we may have had weakness, we now have real strength, it's ben a good building process, and I've seen the squad grow in terms of calibre and quality. We have fully fledged internationals and British Lions in our changing room now and the standard is really going up.

"We're playing well at the moment and we're starting to find our way. Clermont are top of their league and we're at the top of the Premiership so it should be a great clash. We're fully aware we didn't do ourselves justice against the Ospreys, but things improved against Bordeaux.

“For us, it's a good chance for us to hit the ground running, parts of our game are going really well so it's a good chance for us to bring it all together.

"We've played them before so we know what quality is coming to face us. We've done some good analysis over the last few days and now we're really looking forward to getting into it. These big teams like Clermont have been there or thereabouts but never got over the line in the Champions Cup. They treat every game as a huge game and we are looking to hit this game running."