Exeter do have a funny side but nobody's laughing now

Exeter 22 Newcastle 17

(GETTY IMAGES)

There may be those, with neither eyes to see nor ears to hear, who continue to scoff at the very notion of Exeter surviving their first season in the Aviva Premiership and dismiss the West Countrymen as some kind of comic turn. More fool them. If there are certain things that raise a smile during an afternoon at Sandy Park – pasties the size of small planets, the unfeasibly long queues at the beer outlets, the chant known as the "Tomahawk Chop" – the sight of Chris Budgen replacing the equally spherical Hoani Tui in the front row, summoning an image of two barrels rolling in opposite directions under a mysterious inner propulsion, there cannot be the slightest doubt that here is a new rugby force in the making.

Ali Hepher knows all about playing in the heartland of the union game, rather than in the more barren territories of Watford or High Wycombe, where the roots run nowhere near as deep and sporting congregations have to be created from scratch rather than called to worship. "I was lucky enough to be involved with Northampton and Bedford, true rugby towns," said the former outside-half, now one of the guiding spirits on Exeter's excellent coaching team.

"This is another true rugby town – the sport is part of the fabric of the place – and while people talk about this being a long-term project, which it is in many ways, we're also equipped to make things happen quickly. Why should we wait? We have a phenomenal set-up here, we're driven by high standards and we know what we want. Let's push forward, as far and fast as we can."

The bad news for the Devonians on Saturday was that they fell off those high standards for the first time this season. The good news? They won without performing at anywhere near the optimum. Even Gareth Steenson, the outside-half who never misses, missed. At 4.33pm – mark the time, because these things do not happen often – the Irishman smacked the far post with a wide-angled penalty shot, thereby forfeiting his 100 per cent strike-rate on home soil.

If Hepher, who plays the role of kicking coach to a kicker who barely requires one, was a little surprised, he was not anticipating a sleepless night over it. "There aren't many with Gareth's statistics," he said. "We'll spend some time together ahead of the next game, as we always do, but it's not the biggest part of my working week. I make about two or three comments a season. I don't want to interfere."

And on the broader front: the dropped passes, the turnovers, the odd defensive ricket? "We're better than that," he replied. "But there was a different kind of pressure attached to this match, which was why we spent a lot of build-up time talking about our mental approach. We told the players at half-time: 'Loosen up a little, start playing some rugby'. The good thing is that when we needed it, our character came through. As I knew it would."

While business at the turnstiles was down a little on the opening-day fixture with Gloucester, this was hardly a bolt from the blue: if Newcastle's players rarely travel well, their supporters rarely travel at all. The underlying trend is healthy, and will only grow healthier as it dawns on rugby followers further south and further west that Premiership rugby in this neck of the woods is sustainable. Even if Exeter suffer a couple of chastening defeats over the next couple of weeks – they travel to Harlequins, a seriously quick side, on Saturday, and to Northampton, a seriously good one, seven days later – they have home games in November that could yield rich pickings. And four wins before Christmas would leave them more than halfway to safety.

Tom Johnson, so impressive in the win over Gloucester, played another influential hand here, covering ground so quickly from the blind-side flank that few significant phases of Exeter play unfolded without him. If he suffered the embarrassment of losing a wrestling match with the lightweight wing Charlie Amesbury – "We have punishments for that sort of thing, but you really don't want to know what they are," said Hepher, grinning maliciously – he finished well in credit by scoring his side's only try following some smart opportunist work from Haydn Thomas, who turned in a blinder at scrum-half.

Newcastle attacked more cleanly, and the first of their two tries, finished by Amesbury, was a thing of beauty. But they struggled for possession from the outset, were even more starved of ball after losing James Hudson to injury just before half-time, and as their frustration grew they inevitably put themselves on the wrong side of referee Greg Garner. This was precisely where they did not need to be, for Steenson was hardly likely to spurn too many opportunities with the boot.

Paul Moriarty, the Tynesiders' assistant coach, was less than complimentary about Garner, one of the bright young officials fast-tracked into full-time refereeing by the Rugby Football Union. But Moriarty, born into one of big-time rugby's less angelic families, understands the realities of the game, the first of which is that a team playing without the ball has far more chance of being penalised than one playing with it. Newcastle's exasperation was more the result of losing a game they had identified as a potential victory.

Come season's end, a number of clubs may have experienced similar frustration. Exeter do not look like a side who will be playing second-tier rugby this time next year, and this prompts a very interesting question. If not them, who?

Exeter: Try Johnson; Conversion Steenson; Penalties Steenson 5. Newcastle: Tries Amesbury, Vickerman; Conversions Gopperth 2; Penalty Gopperth.

Exeter L Arscott; N Sestaret, P Dollman, B Rennie (M Jess, 54), M Foster; G Steenson, H Thomas; B Sturgess, N Clark (S Alcott, 66), H Tui (C Budgen, 61), T Hayes (capt), J Hanks, T Johnson (C Slade, 47), J Scaysbrook, J Phillips (Johnson, 61).

Newcastle A Tait; G Bobo, R Vickerman (J Manning, 66), L Eves, C Amesbury (L Fielden, 74); J Gopperth, M Young; J Golding (G Shiells, 64), R Vickers, T Ryan (K Brookes, 45), J Hudson (capt; G Townson, 38), T Swinson, B Wilson, R Pennycook (W Welch, 70), A Hogg.

Referee G Garner (London).