Preview: Northampton v Exeter

Fiji wing Sireli Naqelevuki will make his Exeter Chiefs debut on Saturday when they take on Northampton in the Aviva Premiership.

Fiji wing Sireli Naqelevuki will make his Exeter Chiefs debut on Saturday when they take on Northampton in the Aviva Premiership.

The 30-year-old winger, who signed recently from South African Super 14 outfit Stormers, is one of three team changes Rob Baxter has made to his starting line-up from that which went down 40-13 to Harlequins last Saturday.

“It's good to start and a big test for me because we are playing against a good side who are second in the league,” said Naqelevuki.

“I enjoyed the 40 minutes I played [on Monday], it was a good first run out and the first chance for me to wear the Chiefs jersey. I thought I was going to play for the other 40, but the coaches told me to rest.

“I have got a start now and if I perform I can keep hold of the jersey, if I don't I will lose it so I want to perform tomorrow.”

Whilst Naqelevuki is clearly relishing Saturday's tussle, so too are a number of other Chiefs, several of whom have strong links to the Northampton club.

Props Chris Budgen and Brett Sturgess are both former Saints players, as is assistant coach Ali Hepher, who spent eight years at Franklin's Gardens and made 120 appearances, including starting the Heineken Cup final in 2000 when the Saints won.

Tomorrow's match will be the first time he has tried to plot Northampton's downfall since leaving his role as an academy coach to join the Chiefs in June last year.

Hepher is well aware of the challenge that awaits his current club this weekend, but even though the Chiefs have come unstuck on both away games so far this season, he is confident the players can produce a performance against Jim Mallinder's men.

“I popped up to Northampton in the summer with the sevens, but that wasn't quite the same,” said the former fly-half.

“This was the one fixture I looked up straight away when they came out. It will be good fun to go back, it's a good challenge – they're on fire at the minute playing-wise so we're going to have to put in a good performance this weekend to get something out of the game.

“As a coaching team they've been outstanding, you can't fault where they've taken the club in the last few years. As a team they have some real quality across the board, but we've got quality as well and it will be exciting to see how we fare. There's no doubt our guys have the ability to compete with the best, as they've shown this season so far.”

And despite their setback in the capital last weekend, Hepher insists the players have reacted positively this past week and will travel in good spirit.

“We always knew we would probably get results like that, even though we didn't want to get them,” Hepher admitted.

“That was going to be the reality of where we've come from and where we are now.

“It hasn't been too difficult this week, the guys are in good spirits. The things we've learned from the weekend are easy things to fix, that's the key. We've learned a hell of a lot from Saturday and hopefully we'll take it on board as quickly as possible, i.e this Saturday, and we'll be better for it.”

Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder told of his respect for Exeter's start to the season ahead of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 5 meeting between the Chiefs and Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens.

Like the Saints two seasons ago, the Chiefs have won their home games since promotion to establish a firm foothold on the Aviva Premiership Rugby league table. And in Round 2 Exeter came within 10 minutes of causing one of the biggest shocks in Aviva Premiership Rugby history when they pushed Leicester right to the wire at Welford Road.

However Mallinder has not been surprised by how Saturday's opponents have taken to top flight rugby.

“We played the Chiefs three times in National League One,” Mallinder said.

“All three were very tough matches, and while there have been changes since then at both clubs I am expecting another tough match on Saturday.

“Exeter's ambition to reach the Premiership was obvious, and now that they are in this league they are making the most of it. Rob Baxter has laid solid foundations and has put together a squad with a lot of experience that wants to play for each other.

“From a Saints perspective I am looking for a lot of improvement from last Sunday's game at Saracens. Although we dominated for long periods we did not take our chances or adapt to how the referee was controlling the game. This is something we have spoken about this week and everyone has been working very hard in training to put together a game plan that we believe will lead to a positive result tomorrow.”

In team news, Euan Murray and Brett Sharman make their first starts of the season. Courtney Lawes return to the team following their enforced week's rest, with Dylan Hartley taking an EPS break this weekend.

Phil Dowson captains the team in Hartley's absence, while Mark Easter will pass the 100-appearance mark should he be sent on from the bench.

Form: Northampton Saints' 100 per cent winning record in Aviva Premiership Rugby was shot down at Saracens on Sunday. The Saints have suffered just two defeats at Franklin's Gardens in any competition since February 2009, both to Saracens in April and May 2010. Exeter Chiefs four games so far have all been won by the home side on the day. The Chiefs' most recent away victory was 29-10 at Bristol in the 2nd leg of last season's Championship final. The two teams have met on three previous occasions all in season 2007/08, where the Saints won all three encounters: two in National One, at Exeter and at Northampton, and one at Twickenham in the final of the National Trophy.

The teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Bruce Reihana, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Phil Dowson (capt), 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha
Replacements:16 Andy Long, 17 Regardt Dreyer, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Ryan Powell, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Joe Ansbro,

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Sireli Naqelevuki, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Bryan Rennie, 11 Mark Foster, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Tom Johnson, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Chad Slade, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Neil Clark, 1 Brett Sturgess
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Chris Bentley, 20 Dave Gannon, 21 Junior Poluleuligaga, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Matt Jess

Date: Saturday, October 2
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: JP Doyle