Exeter Chiefs' Premiership fixtures released

The 2019 finalists kick-off their premiership campaign against Harlequins

Rob Baxter's Exeter Chiefs will face Harlequins at Sandy Park on the opening date of the season (Saturday 19th October). The Chiefs will then travel to local rivals Bath the following Friday (25th October) before travelling to Worcester Warriors on Sunday ( 3rd October).

The stand out fixture is 29th December 2019 - the two giants of English rugby will collide once more when reigning champions Saracens visit Sandy Park it what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter. 

Speaking about the fixtures, Exeter Chiefs director of rugby said: "We know Harlequins first up will be a real challenge for us, particularly as they were one of the sides that beat us last year and who ran us very close here at Sandy Park. After that, we travel to Bath on a Friday night - a fixture which we know is traditionally very tough for us. It took us quite a while to get the better of Bath and although we've had the better of them in more recent years, it's never an easy game up there.

"You can look at the fixtures over and over and it doesn't really change that much. I think every club knows that the league is very competitive and wherever you look in the season, you have games that you know are going to test you and be tough games of rugby.

"We saw last season how competitive the division was - right up until those final weeks of the season - and I've no doubt it's going to be the same again this season. If you look at what teams have been doing during the close season in terms of recruitment, squads have certainly got stronger. London Irish coming up have certainly strengthened well, Bristol have had a season now to build some real foundations, and a sides like Leicester will want to start strongly after what was a tough year for them last season."