Chiefs host Gloucester in opening round 16 years on

Nearly two decades on from their first ever Aviva Premiership encounter, Exeter Chiefs host the same opposition in the opening round of the 2026/27 Gallagher PREM, on the eve of Sandy Park’s 20th anniversary.

Gloucester Rugby, led by head coach Bryan Redpath and captain Mike Tindall back in September 2010, arrived in Devon for the start of the 2010/11 season against the newly promoted Chiefs. They more than likely expected a walk on the beach, not to come up against a sleeping giant awoken by the jubilation of their recent promotion and with a burning passion to prove their place in the league.

Irishman Tommy Hayes led Chiefs out onto the Sandy Park turf in front of a more than 9,000-strong crowd. The day had finally come for supporters, players, coaches and staff alike to take a huge breath in and out, Chiefs were a Premiership side.

Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “We’d managed to beat Bristol twice in big, important play-offs right at the end of the previous season, and we’d had a real tough run-in so we were probably quite a battle-hardened group of players. Even so, it did still feel like a big step up.”

The cherry and white’s line-up was an enviable one. Littered with internationals, they boasted names like England’s James Simpson-Daniel and Lesley Vainikolo as well as Wales’s Nicky Robinson.

Chiefs’ dependable, gnarly Championship regulars were ready for the challenge. Tom Johnson and James Scaysbrook packed down in the back row with Brett Sturgess (above) and Hoani Tui propping up the front-row, all in front of a backline which included Haydn Thomas, Gareth Steenson and Phil Dollman.

Chiefs set their marker down early in the first half, with a fourth minute try from winger Mark Foster who took the ball wide on the left wing to run in Exeter’s first ever top-flight points. A conversion and three penalties from Steenson pushed Chiefs to a 16-5 half-time lead.

The Exeter men didn’t relent on their intensity in the second-half, pushing through to an eventual 22-10 win. The result caught the attention of not only Gloucester, but the rest of the league. Chiefs may not have been the polished product of the likes of the Leicester Tigers and Wasps of that time, but they were grasping opportunity with both hands and with a dogged determination to remain in the league they’d worked so hard to reach.

Baxter added: “It was kind of the start we needed. Maybe it was just one of those days where the hard work we put in during pre-season, the way the lads fought during the game for the little moments, just held it together enough for us to get an important win. The rest of the story gets written from there, doesn’t it?”

Now, 16 years on, round one of the new season is just around the corner. The kits may look different, the badges of both clubs redesigned, the faces new but the similarities won’t be lost on the Chiefs faithful.

In a season brimming with so much excitement and promise following last year’s runner’s up finish, it seems rather apt that Gloucester be the opposition to help Chiefs kick-off Sandy Park’s anniversary year.

Tickets are available here.