Will Tigers earn their stripes against the mighty Chiefs?

The smiles on the faces of the Welford Road faithful after a wonderful start in Round 1 were firmly supplanted by grimaces as Leicester crashed to a 22-9 defeat to London Irish in Round 2. Now, in Round 3, things will not get any easier for Tom Youngs’ men as they face the mighty defending champions, Exeter.

Leicester seemed unable to replicate the great form they exhibited against Gloucester in Round 1 when they met Exiles a week later. Much of the game was dedicated to the boot and Leicester suffered the misfortune of a yellow being shown to newly-recruited winger Kobus van Wyk after a  blatantly nonsensical deliberate knock-down from which Exiles took the lead after a penalty. Exiles proceeded to make the game their own, adding a further three penalties and a try to give the score finality.

Exeter, predictably, have two consecutive wins behind their name so far in the competition; opening with a dominant 33-3 win over Harlequins before smashing Bath 40-3 last weekend. They have yet to have an opponent cross their try-line – a factor indicative of their swarming defence. They have garnered a high degree of familiarity with the number one spot on the overall standings since the 2019-20 instalment and their fantastic current form does not lend much to the notion that they will be dropping down anytime soon.

Exeter brushed Leicester aside in both their meetings last season – 31-22 in Round 6 and 26-13 in Round 14.

Expectations of Exeter making three from three this round will be running high, but if Leicester can unearth some of whatever it was that motivated them in Round 1, things could take on an interesting shape.