Ten years ago this week, Exeter beat Bristol 29-10 in the second leg of the Championship play-off to decide which of these West Country teams would be promoted to the Premiership. Bristol, having lost the first leg by three points in Devon, were the strong favourites.
The rest is history. Fast forward to the Sky Sports studios at the start of the following season. The usual questions were asked and although I don’t recall who I tipped for the title, there’s no question that Exeter were an almost reflexive retort to the question: “Who will be relegated?” There was no other sane answer.
Normally, every season was a struggle for the newly promoted team. Accompanied by the constant backdrop of “we must ring fence, the
