EXETER Chiefs come to town on Saturday for what promises to be a cracker.

I honesty feel that they are one of the top three clubs in National One and they travel to Sixways on the back of an incredible 89-17 win over Rugby Lions.

People may say that Rugby aren't much cop this season but you still have to beat what is in front of you and they did that in style.

Not only do they come to Worcester aiming to keep their title challenge on track, after their recent defeat at Rotherham, they feature three players with a point to prove.

Tony Yapp, Dave Sims and Alistair Murdoch were all at Sixways last year and they will be hoping to prove that they are still top players.

It's like every walk in life. If you go to a new job, you want to prove something to your previous employers. In sport you get the chance to do it in your old back yard and give the former coaches a bloody nose at the same time!

There is probably no better motivation than wanting to prove a point to coaches who let you go and we must be aware of that. We have a responsibility, though, to play for John Brain and Andy Keast. They are the ones who believed in us enough to bring us to the club and we have to show they were right when they made their decisions.

I actually played against Alistair Murdoch back in 1997 in the Super 12. He's a big strong guy and a former Worcester captain so it will be a challenge on Saturday but one I'm looking forward to.

Our boys look very sharp at present and we are pleased with the improvement we have made in the three league games so far. If you look at the scores and the performances in our matches this season, it is clear that we are progressing. The continuity within the backs is extremely pleasing and I think the forwards were very strong for us at Otley on Saturday.

We came away from Cross Green with a 62-24 success and, overall, the boys were happy with the performance. We gave away three sloppy tries, which never pleases us, but we played some good stuff in between. To score 10 tries away from home is no mean feat.

We've studied the video from the game and it was clear that we need to eradicate silly errors at the start and end of games. If promotion came down to points difference, we would be kicking ourselves for some mistakes which could have easily been avoided. We certainly cannot afford to give Exeter a try start at the weekend.

I was delighted for David Officer who scored a hat-trick in Yorkshire. He and Ben Hinshelwood really seem to be hitting it off as the centre pairing and their relationship is a real boost so early on in the season.

It's all about combinations, it's only the fourth game of the season but it's knowing about what the other guy is doing.

I must admit that the whole Otley experience was an eye opener for me. It reminded me about my roots and starting my career in South Africa. But that's OK. The whole point of me coming to England was to play good rugby, not get overly concerned with the grounds and how many people are inside the stadiums. It is certainly an experience I can tell the kids about!

Seriously, the people there were really friendly and it is a lovely place. We had our pies and peas afterwards and it was a good experience for me. It is sometimes difficult at the start of the game to get yourselves wound up when everything is so low key but that is a trap we cannot fall into.

You know, before the match, that you should beat these guys but you still have to go out there and do it in a convincing manner. That, perhaps, is the secret of winning this league. You know you are going to be up for the bigger games but if you haven't accumulated enough points in these so-called lesser matches, you won't even be in contention when the big ones arrive.