“They’ve been building for a while now, so I don’t think we should be overly surprised about how they are performing,” warned Hunter. “They’ve been together a long time, they have a settled squad and a settled coaching team which, as we’ve seen here, can make a big difference.

“As a group they’ve stuck at what they do for a while now and although they’ve not always had the results they wanted, they’ve persevered with their plan and now they are getting the rewards for that. You can see they are very together, they are scoring tries, they are working hard for one another and, most importantly, they are enjoying it.

“They are playing with real confidence and they are not getting too hung up if they make the odd error. We’re now five weeks into the season and they are not in the top two by accident. Yes, you get the odd freak result here and there, but they are up there because they’ve played well, defended well, and they’ve stuck at what they do well. Looking at them, they are a massive threat to us.”

Duly warned, the Chiefs themselves will take to the field primed and ready for tomorrow’s test, which provides the last competitive fixture of this opening Premiership block.

Ahead of kick-off, Director of Rugby Rob Baxter has made a number of changes to his squad. In the pack, Carl Rimmer and Harry Williams return in the front-row alongside skipper Jack Yeandle, who is set to make his 100th Premiership appearance for the club. Behind, Sam Skinner and Sam Simmonds come into the back-row at the expense of Dave Dennis (rested) and Julian Salvi, who drops to the bench.

In the back division, Aussie international Nic White is recalled at scrum-half, while the return of Jack Nowell on the right wing means Lachie Turner shunts back to full-back with Phil Dollman dropping to the bench, where he will be joined by Ben Moon who, if he appears at any stage tomorrow, will make his 150th league appearance.

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE NEWCASTLE FALCONS

15 Lachie Turner

14 Jack Nowell

13 Henry Slade

12 Ian Whitten

11 Olly Woodburn

10 Gareth Steenson

9 Nic White

1 Carl Rimmer

2 Jack Yeandle (capt)

3 Harry Williams

4 Mitch Lees

5 Jonny Hill

6 Sam Skinner

7 Don Armand

8 Sam Simmonds

16 Elvis Taione

17 Ben Moon

18 Tomas Francis

19 Ollie Atkins

20 Julian Salvi

21 Stu Townsend

22 Tom Hendrickson

23 Phil Dollman