Gloucester travel to take on the Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday and make five changes to the starting line-up that defeated Leicester Tigers last weekend. Hooker Henry Walker will make his first start in the Gallagher Premiership.

Three of the changes are in the pack. Walker makes his first start and Val Rapava Ruskin returns at loosehead to pack down alongside him. In the back row, Ben Morgan comes in for Jaco Kriel.

In the back line, Henry Trinder returns in the midfield to replace Mark Atkinson and Charlie Sharples, currently the Premiership’s top try scorer, comes in for Matt Banahan on the wing.

Named among the replacements is South African hooker Jaco Visagie, who joined the club on loan this week.

Despite the bonus point victory over the Tigers last weekend, head coach Johan Ackermann isn’t reading too much into that performance and is very aware of the fact that the Cherry and Whites will have to be better this weekend.

"People are getting a little carried away because of the tries we scored against Leicester, because they were good tries especially the last one,” he said. “It got everyone excited! But it wasn’t the perfect performance, we made mistakes and missed opportunities. But the positives were there, and when we played well, we played very well.

"Last week, Exeter also made mistakes at Bristol but had the quality to go out and get the win at the end. And that’s what it’s going to take, it’ll take a full 80 minutes of hard work and patience and good decisions

"They’re so good at what they do, that you have to match that and be better just to have a chance. So it’s going to be a massive challenge."

Rob Baxter, meanwhile, has told his table-topping Exeter Chiefs to “prepare for battle” against Gloucester.

In the first of three upcoming meetings between the two clubs – they also meet twice next month in the Heineken Champions Cup – the need to lay down an early marker, as well as pocket vital league points at the summit, is a key motivator for both camps ahead of kick-off.

Although pleased to make it seven from seven in the top-flight last time out, Baxter admitted post-game that there were areas of the game his players would need to address ahead of the visit of the Cherry and Whites.

“What we have to do is learn and get better because Gloucester are rampant at the moment and we know we need to take a notable step up to even be competitive,” said the Chiefs’ director of rugby.

“It is important we don’t look at the fact that we won, to gloss over the mistakes that we made because we have got to get better. In defence, we got done on some pretty basic things like show and goes, we bought dummies, we pressed on people on the outside when the threat was on the inside.

“We didn’t always defend the threat, which was the guy on the ball, which in itself is very uncharacteristic of us.”

That said, the Chiefs – even without eight players away on international duty – had enough resolve within their ranks to bag success at Ashton Gate. Trailing 24-12 entering into the final quarter, late tries from Santiago Cordero and Jack Yeandle, coupled with the penalty try three minutes into added on time underlined their fighting spirit.

“There are things we need to do to keep working on, but I can’t sit here and not credit the players for what they have done,” added Baxter. “They knew they had to win the game and on the day they’ve found a way to do it, so they must be congratulated for their efforts.”

Not surprisingly, Baxter sticks with the large nucleus of last weekend’s winning team. Changes in the pack see Dave Dennis and Dave Ewers come in for Ollie Atkins and Tom Lawday, while behind the sole change sees Nic White – impressive off the bench against the Bears – take over the number nine jersey from Stu Townsend.

White will team up with Gareth Steenson in forming an experience Exeter half-back pairing that will have to help stymie rivals Willi Heinz and Danny Cipriani.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman; 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Alex Cuthbert; 10 Gareth Steenson 9 Nic White; 1 Moray Low, 2 Jack Yeandle (capt), 3 Greg Holmes, 4 Mitch Lees, 5 Dave Dennis, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Don Armand, 8 Matt Kvesic. Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Wilhelm Van der Sluys, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill.

Gloucester: 15. Jason Woodward; 14. Charlie Sharples, 13. Henry Trinder, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Ollie Thorley; 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Willi Heinz; 1. Val Rapava Ruskin, 2. Henry Walker, 3. Fraser Balmain; 4. Tom Savage, 5. Ed Slater (capt); 6. Freddie Clarke, 7. Gareth Evans, 8. Ben Morgan. Replacements: 16. Jaco Visagie, 17. Kyle Traynor, 18. Josh Hohneck, 19. Gerbrandt Grobler, 20. Aaron Hinkley, 21. Callum Braley, 22, Owen Williams, 23. Tom Hudson.

Unavailable for selection:
Ruan Ackermann, Mark Atkinson, Gareth Denman, Ruan Dreyer, James Hanson, Jaco Kriel, Lewis Ludlow, Franco Marais, Tom Marshall, Paddy McAllister, Jake Polledri, Henry Purdy, Will Safe.