Confidence is high in Chiefs camp - Tui

Without a win in five before last weekend's victory over Newcastle Falcons, Exeter Chiefs could have been accused of having a mid-season wobble - but Maori prop Hoani Tui insists confidence remains high in Devon.

A Haydn Thomas try as well as 12 points from the boot of Gareth Steenson handed the Chiefs a 16-3 win over Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership last Saturday.

It was a welcome early Christmas present for the Devon outfit who had somewhat lost the winning feeling after slipping to defeats to Bath, Saracens and Toulon in recent weeks.

Not that Tui, who has started all ten of his side's Aviva Premiership matches this season, was getting overly concerned.

Part of the reason he explained is down to the determination within the side to step up the plate when called upon.

Gareth Steenson, returning from a recent shoulder injury, kicked three penalties and a conversion, and the prop believes having players like the Northern Irishman in their ranks, ensures they can pull through the tougher times.

"Gareth is brilliant for us, week in week out, he's got one of the highest kicking rates in the Premiership," said Tui. "It's great to have him in the team knowing that he will deliver most times. And then you have Henry Slade who can come in so they are really pushing each other here. It's great to have players across the team who can step up when they are needed to.

"Even though we have lost the last couple of weeks we have put in some good performances, against Bath we did well and it was the same against Toulon away. We knew if we kept doing things right it would come at some stage. Even though it was not pretty against Newcastle, it was good to finally get a win on the board. We have been working hard the last four weeks but not really getting anything for it in terms of results so it was good to finally get our rewards."

Following their victory over the Falcons at Sandy Park, the Chiefs now head to the capital to face successive away games against Harlequins and London Wasps.

Quins currently sit one place and one point above the Chiefs in the Aviva Premiership table while Wasps are four points further behind.

And while the Chiefs may have corrected their form at home - they were on the verge of losing three successive home games for the first time ever at Sandy Park before beating Newcastle - Tui knows the next few weeks could prove pivotal for their top-four aspirations.

"We have tried to make Sandy Park a bit of a fortress the last four years and we want to try and keep it that way, our home games are important to us so it was good to win there last week," he added. "It's a key period we have got over the next few weeks in the Christmas period, it would be great to go into the New Year in the top four."