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Saturday, October 11, 2008, 10:00
A crowd of over 5,000 is expected to pack into the Brickfields for the first of two scheduled clashes between Devon's top two teams this season.
The Chiefs head down the A38 buoyed by an excellent start to the new season which has seen them slot into second spot in the division, just behind leaders Leeds Carnegie, who remain the only side to have defeated Pete Drewett's men this campaign.
Albion, meanwhile, have endured a mixed run of results so far and lie seventh after six games. On home soil, though, they know they are a match for any side within National One and chairman of rugby Graham Dawe is sure to have his side primed and ready for what is expected to be another titanic tussle between the two clubs.
With the Chiefs holding the advantage in recent meetings – they have won the last four games between the two clubs – many independent observers are predicting the men from Exeter to extend that record this afternoon.
The Chiefs, however, are refusing to bite on such talk, instead they are focusing solely on the task ahead and are not getting involved in any pre-match hype. Indeed, flanker Richie Pugh expects today's encounter to be the most intense fixture of the season so far.
Pugh is one of five Exeter players experiencing a Devon derby for the first time and the 25-year-old thinks the match at Brickfields will be similar to the games he played for Ospreys against bitter Welsh rivals Llanelli Scarlets.
He believes that half the battle in those types of matches is to keep the crowd quiet and concentrate on doing your own job on the pitch. The former Wales international has called for his Chiefs team-mates to do just that.
"We know there's going to be an intensity in the game that we haven't come across in previous games," he said. "I've spoken to Ed Lewsey and Tommy Hayes and a few of the boys who've played for Plymouth against Exeter and they've said it's like any derby.
"I'm expecting it to be very much like the Scarlets v Ospreys game, that I played in many times. Whenever we went away from home we always tried to shut the crowd out. We know their crowd's going to be on our backs but if we concentrate on putting our gameplan into effect we can win that battle.
"As long as we go in with the right mindset we're more than capable of doing the job."
Already this season Exeter's players have shown their strength of character with gritty away wins against both the Cornish Pirates and Bedford Blues in the past month: the Brickfields this afternoon promises to be just as intimidating.
Among those looking to upset the applecart for the Chiefs will be Albion skipper Arthur Brenton who, like Pugh, will be running out for his first Devon derby. The imposing lock is no stranger to being on the end of a beating from an Exeter side. Brenton joined Albion this summer from Bedford, where in 12 matches he suffered eight defeats against the Chiefs.
Clearly it's a statistic the 27-year-old forward is keen to address and he is hopeful his new club can produce the goods against their arch rivals.
"I think it would be very presumptuous to make any expectation in relation to what this weekend will be like," said Brenton. "But I do know it will be a massive game. At the moment we are just taking one game at a time.
"We got a win on Saturday [at Otley] and, even better, got a bonus point as well, but now the only game on our agenda is Exeter. Nobody needs any extra motivation for this game. A game against Exeter is a big occasion."
He added: "I think if we can play the way we played in the second half against London Welsh and the second half against Otley for a full 80 minutes then we are certainly capable of beating most sides in this league.
"We will be looking at how to perform for 80 rather than 40 minutes. When we achieve playing for 80 minutes we will look like a pretty decent side and we might turn a few heads in the process."
CORNISH Pirates' head coach Mark Hewitt has made eight changes to his starting line-up for tomorrow's visit of Rotherham to the Recreation Ground in National League One. Five of those switches come in the back division where only Marika Vakacegu and Brian Tuohy remain from the side that won 12-6 at Manchester. Starts go to Paul Devlin, Tom Luke, Aisea Havili, Doug Sanft and Ed Fairhurst. Up front, the cull sees Darren Dawiduik, Scott Franklin and Sam Betty replaced by Rob Elloway, Dan Seal and Chris Morgan.
Pirates: M Vakacegu; B Tuohy, P Devlin, T Luke, A Havili; D Sanft, E Fairhurst; A Paver, R Elloway, D Seal; H Senekal, B Gulliver (capt); C Morgan, I Motusaga, B Bedes. Replacements: S Franklin, D Dawiduik, M Burak, S Betty, N Griffiths, A Winnan, J Moore.
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Albion skipper Arthur Brenton is under no illusions about the size of the task facing his players
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