Phil Dollman© Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Monday Maul looks at whether Exeter Chiefs can win the Premiership, the superb Ollie Devoto and the floundering Cardiff Blues.

When Exeter were promoted to the Premiership in 2010, after they shocked favourites Bristol in the final, the message from Rob Baxter was clear. We will grow but also maintain the faith and reward those who have taken us to the top table.

"I am very confident that I will have the budget to bring in six or eight more Premiership players in for next season," Baxter said moments after they had defeated Bristol 38-16 on aggregate. "But I think it is important also that all our team and replacements tonight committed to being with this side as long ago as a month ago - before we even knew we were in the play-offs. We won't be throwing anybody aside. Everybody who featured tonight will be involved in the Premiership."

When they played their debut game in the Premiership the following season, 11 of those who started against Bristol were in Exeter's line-up once again. He was true to his word and they rewarded him with a 22-10 victory. That season they finished eighth despite being favourites for the drop. They laughed in the face of those who predicted their demise.

Five years on, the Exeter squad still features eight players who were part of the matchday group for that opening match of the 2010-11 season. They now have another piece of silverware in the cabinet to sit alongside the championship trophy - try telling those down the A303 the LV=Cup doesn't hold any value - and they are sitting pretty in the top four of the Premiership. Financially their wonderful Sandy Park ground is producing the goods and in Tony Rowe they have a chairman who has steered the club with wonderful precision and levelheadedness.

Following their win over the champions on Sunday, now come the questions over whether they possess those wonderful arbitrary, undefinable factors like 'big game mentality' and, well, 'chutzpah', to put together a case worthy of winning the Premiership.

Their run in is far from straight forward. They have a European Challenge Cup semi-final to navigate and then face trips to Wasps and Saracens and then a home tie against Sale. "That does make for some great games," was Baxter's response to questions over the matches lying in wait for his team.

But you do sense there is something a little bit special about this group, to borrow a clichéd phrase from one of their title competitors. They are built on solid Devon foundations with their academy bearing wonderful fruits - any team in England would kill for Henry Slade, Sam Hill or Jack Nowell - and there is still that crux of the promotion winning-team there alongside recruits like Thomas Waldrom who have bought into their ethos. Five years is a long time to keep a promise, but Baxter has stuck to his guns. That Phil Dollman was the man to score one of their three tries against Northampton on Saturday seems fitting. He was the man who added the try to Steenson's 17-point haul against Gloucester back in September 2010 to bring up their 22-point total.

At the end of the season their inspiration captain and 33-cap Wallaby Dean Mumm will return to Australia. His form at the Chiefs has been enough to catch Michael Cheika's eye and he can expect to be fast-tracked back into the Wallabies' squad for the World Cup. Exeter is resonating in Sydney. Mumm's replacement will be England lock Geoff Parling, a Lion for their Wallaby. But speaking to Mumm soon after the announcement was made, there were no thoughts of World Cup or Waratahs, it was about finishing the season with silverware at the Chiefs. There was unwavering focus.

Back to the now and Exeter have already done the double over Northampton this term and have beaten their fellow play-off contenders Saracens, Wasps and Bath. A home semi-final may be beyond them - "we are back in fourth place and that is probably about right," is Baxter's take on where they are - but can they win the Premiership? They are fourth favourites with the bookies, but they are a team who relish confounding the doubters. Baxter will also be mindful of how they lost the LV=Cup final in the last minute, they cannot lose focus.

"The Chiefs recorded the biggest triumph in their history," was how the Exeter Express and Echo responded to their promotion back in 2010. They may yet be rolling out that line again this term for European or Premiership commendation.

The match where Devoto came of age

Ollie Devoto© Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

The 2015 Rugby World Cup will come too soon for Ollie Devoto but if he continues this upward curve of development and maturity, he will be a shoe-in for the 2019 tournament. For all the talk of the brilliant Slade - such is his versatility he should be included in the 31-man squad for the World Cup - Devoto is also bubbling nicely. On Friday night, Bath's win at Sale could be the match future scribes look back on as the game where Devoto came of age.

The previous Saturday, he watched on from the commentary box as his team-mates somehow managed to lose to Leinster despite being in the ascendancy for much of the match. You could forgive the 21-year-old if there was a pang of jealousy and perhaps a brief wavering thought of uncertainty over his future at Bath - a point made by Will Greenwood - but a few days on and he had Kingston Park on a piece of string.

There was a lot of interest in the younger Devoto. Agents were keen on bringing him under their stewardship, talent like his doesn't just come around every other year. His delayed pass for Anthony Watson's try on Friday night was similar to George Ford's for Jonathan Joseph's against Scotland. What Friday proved is that he is neither a fullback nor fly-half, his future lies at inside centre. Standing at six feet four, he bulldozed over for Bath's try and his physicality stands him well in the contact area but has measured hands which can carve open defences. With Kyle Eastmond in their ranks, Bath's options at No.12 are plentiful but it will take a delicate balancing act from Mike Ford to keep both happy.

The stumbling Cardiff Blues

In The Rugby Paper on Sunday, Wales great Shane Williams used a section of his column to ask what exactly is happening at the Blues. They had a chance to get their season back on track the week previous but managed to squander a 14-3 lead over the Dragons in the Challenge Cup quarter-final to ultimately lose 25-21. Then came their trip to Glasgow but it was a similar tale of woe as they lost 36-17 after trailing 36-3 after 45 minutes.

Williams comments will not make happy reading for the Blues management who have not yet appointed a permanent successor after Mark Hammett left in February having been in the job just six months. "The uncertainty over the top job will not be helping anyone, especially the players," Williams wrote in his column. "No-one seems to know what is happening there, the players, coaches, fans or even the directors.

"The one bonus for whoever comes in is that things can hardly get any worse. They also have some great players but unless someone grabs the whole club by the scruff of the neck and sort out what is going on, they won't get anywhere. So the Blues need to hurry up and sort it out."