The Gallagher Premiership is back this Saturday as Leicester Tigers make the trip to the West Country to take on Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.

Pre-season is in the bank, including victories over Nottingham and Scarlets, and Tigers head coach Michael Cheika says he is pleased with the base his side have built.

“We’ve built a really solid foundation, and we have lots more to do,” Cheika said.

“Physically, the players have prepared well and are ready to go and certainly in the areas we’ve focused on from a rugby perspective, we’ve seen some of those things in the pre-season games.

“We’ve had some really tough selection calls to make this week off the back of pre-season which is exactly what we want.”

With Bath and Northampton Saints at home plus a trip north against Newcastle, you could barely create a more intriguing and exciting start to Cheika’s tenure.

The experienced campaigner is taking it all in his stride.

“There’s a good buzz around the place, for sure,” Cheika said.

“We’re playing for real money now, so the excitement levels naturally lift but we know there’s a job each man has to do this week in getting our preparation just right in order to go after it down in Exeter.”