Exeter Chiefs coach Ricky Pellow admitted his side had taken a ‘step forward’ after they made it a third successive victory in this season’s Premiership Cup with a 31-7 victory at Gloucester on Friday night.

Having already secured big wins against Cornish Pirates (68-7) and Hartpury (54-3), a powerful first half display laid the foundations for their latest success, which puts them five points clear at the top of Pool E.

Rus Tuima gave the visitors a dream start at Kingsholm, powering his way over from close range after just four minutes – and he was followed over the whitewash by Ben Hammersley, who picked a lovely line to glide through the Gloucester defence.

Josh Hodge converted both scores, before adding the extras to Will Rigg’s solo effort midway through the half.

There was to be no let-up from the rampant Devonians, who added a bonus score through Hodge, who initially started the attack in his own 22, before finishing off following a neat exchange of passes with Stu Townsend.

Townsend then got in on the scoring act himself just before the break as the Chiefs headed for the break 31 points to the good.

Gloucester were better after the interval, claiming a converted score through Val Rapava Ruskin, but that was nothing more than a consolation as the Chiefs held firm to seal their success.

Post-game, Pellow praised his side, saying: “The first 40 minutes was like a blueprint of where we want to be as a team moving forward. The most pleasing thing about this block of games is that we’ve seen the team grow week by week.

“As a group, we’ve taken a big step forward and it has released a bit of pressure on us. That said, there is still a lot to work on.”