By MIKE SINCLAIR

CHAMPIONS Exeter shrugged off the spluttering start to the defence of their title as they handed newlypromoted London Irish a punishing welcome to life at the top.
The Exiles arrived in Devon fresh from their surprise opening-weekend Twickenham victory over Harlequins but found the Chiefs, smarting from their narrow defeat at Gloucester, a far sterner proposition.
Injury-hit Exeter, without a large batch of first-choice players, simply squeezed the life out of the Premiership returnees whose skipper David Paice admitted: “We knew it would be tough and we got taught ...