NEWCASTLE Falcons have embarked on the longest trip in the Aviva Premiership to take on Exeter Chiefs this weekend, but that is nothing compared with the journey that has taken their opponents into English rugby’s top-flight.

Having spent almost all of their history in the lower reaches of the English leagues, Exeter finally achieved promotion when they beat Bristol in last season’s Championship play-off final.

They have made a stirring start to the current campaign, beating Gloucester on the opening weekend and coming within ten minutes of upsetting Leicester on their own ground seven days ago.

Their underdog tag has been well and truly cast aside, and Falcons head coach Alan Tait insists there is no chance of his players displaying any complacency this weekend.

“Everyone who watched them play at Leicester last weekend on the TV, their eyes would have been popping out,” said Tait.

“They are nowhere near as bad as people were saying before the start of the season, they scored some great tries in the backs and cut Leicester to pieces.

“Leicester looked like they turned up thinking it was going to be easy, so I think that’s a lesson for anyone.

“They play to their strengths. I spoke to their coach at the Aviva Premiership launch a few weeks back and he is a pretty straighttalking guy, a big forward, and he has obviously looked at the players he has and plays to their strengths.

“You can’t fault that as a coach, and if big forward play is one of your strengths with huge guys who take it up the middle, then so be it.”

Newcastle’s pack has also been one of their biggest strengths in the opening two rounds of the season, and Tait is in no mood to apologise for the fact that all four of Falcons’ tries have been scored by a forward.

“I didn’t realise they give extra points for a try scored by the backs,” he joked. “As a former back, you do like to score tries, fancy tries as well, but at the end of the day, they all count the same.

“Its pleasing for our forwards.

If we manage to get our patterns there’ll be more movement out in the backs, and hopefully better handling and better tries, but I am quite happy with any tries.”

Tait has made just one change from the side that beat Wasps last weekend, with Rob Vickerman replacing Andy Henderson. A positional switch sees Luke Eves move from outside to inside centre.

FALCONS: Tait, Bobo, Vickerman, Eves, Amesbury, Gopperth, Young; Golding, Vickers, Ryan, Hudson, Swinson, Wilson, Pennycook, Hogg. Replacements: Brookes, Shiells, Ward, Townson, Welch, Pilgrim, Manning, Fielden.