By Quinten Poulsen
September 25 2010

Exeter Chiefs visit The Stoop this afternoon for the first time in five years hoping, or rather knowing, that the result will be vastly different to that of the last time: 70 – 5 to Quins. Exeter are the team in winning form while Harlequins languish second from bottom in the league, winless so far.

The Chiefs have been very good value for their two wins and one moral victory so far this season, and will see this match as a distinctly good opportunity to keep their excellent early form running ahead of their next 3 premiership fixtures – away to Saints and Sarries, and home to London Irish.

Having watched their 3 games so far it is noticeable that they have a strong all round game, and whilst much is made of Gareth Steenson's unerring right boot that gives them so many points there is a lot more to them than that. For a start they have a good set piece and will look to attack Quins in the scrum and the lineout, Quins having looked particularly vulnerable so far in the former. Exeter though are by no means simply a forward oriented team, and have been running the ball very competently with Hayden Thomas at scrum half delivering quick ball to the backs, and generally keeping an impressive momentum to their game with good sniping runs. It's become something of a cliché but Exeter really do play for each other, and some of their support play is very good indeed – their big forwards are also mobile and their mobile backs are also big! The loss of Phil Dollman is a blow to them, and they have brought Frenchman Nic Sestaret in from the wing to replace him, but otherwise have a settled team.

I expect Exeter to come to The Stoop and continue to play the same game they've found so successful so far – compete well at the set piece, use their big ball-carrying forwards to make the hard yards, be aggressive and dynamic at the breakdown, run the ball through the backs when on the front foot, and rely on Steenson to boot them deep into the Quins half when necessary. It sounds simple and their execution has made it look simple.

Harlequins start this game with what has so far been their most productive front row – the same trio brought off the bench early in the second half to such good effect in the two opening games – Marler, Cairns and Johnston. The way these three changed the scrum for the better against Wasps and Saints was admirable and it's good to see that former prop John Kingston is brave enough to give them a deserved start together. Let's hope Marler continues to fulfil his awesome potential and makes the most of this opportunity – his youthfulness will probably see his game time somewhat limited this season even though he plays like a man 10 years older.

Olly Kohn returns to partner Tomas Vallejos in the second row to provide some much needed beef, and Nick Easter returns to his usual position where he is such a key player for Quins. Danny Care also returns after a one game absence and if back to his sniping best could give the opposition plenty of scary moments. Ollie Smith retains his place at outside centre and this is a big game for him. Jordan Turner-Hall has been in very good form so far, and while much of his play may be unsubtle his strong running provides Quins with one of their most potent attacking weapons. He has a great off-loading game and Smith will need to take advantage of this.

Prediction time: despite being winless so far Quins have played some excellent rugby and have led all three games until very late in the match – they are doing a lot right. Can they reduce the penalty count having had a session with Wayne Barnes earlier this week? You would really hope so – playing the ref better and being more ruthless in attack in the red zone are the two areas where improvement could have seen them with 3 wins, and should they get that improvement today the fans should expect a win. What remains to be seen is how their temperament is, and whether the frustration of not winning affects their confidence. Should they be affected in this way then Exeter have a very good chance to cause an upset. While Exeter are still in the game their fans will no doubt be making a very loud noise, and whilst we're all looking forward to discovering what the Tomahawk Chop is all about the home fans will need to really get behind their team.