Can Bath produce a speedy response? Dean Mumm offends at the breakdown and George Ford heads for the corner. Here's a line-out in enemy territory...

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I thought Christmas was two days ago? Because Bath have just spread a little festive joy to their West Country rivals.

The home side have attacking possession just inside the Exeter half but an awkward-looking pass has Dominic Day in a wee bit of trouble, and as he fails to pick it up Matt Jess steals the ball and runs in a try from long range.

Gareth Steenson converts, and the Chiefs lead by seven points at The Rec.

But the England fly-half's radar is not quite right on this occasion, and the ball drifts wide of the posts by a fair distance.

But the rolling maul doesn't really get going and, as Jack Nowell tries to spin away around the side, Bath turn it over again and hit Exeter on the counter. And now the Chiefs have offended at the breakdown, so the blue, black and whites have a penalty, which George Ford is going to take on from long-range...

Jeremy Guscott
Former England centre on BBC Radio 5live

"Bath need a bit of composure. There are sloppy passes, and it's all a bit frantic. The discipline required by Exeter to defend as they have done has been brilliant."

That's unlucky from Matt Banahan, clearing the ball long from out wide but seeing it drift out on the full, just. Exeter have a line-out midway inside the Bath half.

The hosts are certainly not lacking adventure, first George Ford and then captain Stuart Hooper taking on a couple of ambitious-looking passes under some pressure inside their own half. We're just starting to see what these two teams can do with the ball in hand.

What a frenetic start to the match at the AJ Bell!

After Leicester's score, Sale go straight down the other end and Mike Haley puts the ball over the line, but the ref wants to consult the TMO over whether he had contact with the ball when it was touched down...

NO TRY! Haley is adjudged to have knocked the ball on, and we continue on up north.

That's more like it from the home side, spreading the ball wide to Jonathan Joseph in space. The England centre has Horacio Agulla for company too, but as he looks to tee the Argentinean up out wide, Agulla instead comes inside and the ball bounces out of play.

Andrew Priestley:, external One reason we know that Britain is sport mad is the busy festive period full of sport. The rest of Europe don't understand. #bbcrugby

Sale's lead didn't last all that long as they fail to deal with a sustained stint of pressure from the orange-claded Leicester Tigers forwards, and late replacement Seremaia Bai, back from an injury that has kept him out since the opening day, gets the ball down.

But Freddie Burns cannot add the extras, missing his second kick of the afternoon.

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That disallowed try aside, this game has been punctuated by errors more than it has glittering play from either side. Another Chiefs knock on, this time as they looked to break on Bath following a turnover, means another scrum.

It won't count! And, truth be told, the TMO didn't need to take all that long over the decision either, with Kyle Eastmond's pass to release Matt Banahan clearly forward.

Instead, Exeter will have the scrum and clear the ball long from deep inside their own half.

We have the first try of the afternoon and it comes at the AJ Bell Stadium. Sale's Scotland international Chris Cusiter squeezes into a tight space down the blindside and crosses over the Leicester line to put in-form Sharks ahead.

Danny Cipriani cannot get enough curl on his conversion attempt and it stays 5-0.

The line-out, the first of the afternoon, is good from Bath and here comes the rolling maul. It's eventually halted, so the hosts switch the ball wide instead and Matt Banahan slides over in the corner... But is it a forward pass?

Scrum-half Chris Cook sees a chip and chase opportunity but, having dinked the ball down the line, is clattered by Henry Slade. The television match official will have a little look at this and it'll be a penalty to Bath for obstruction. George Ford heads for the corner...

Having turned it over, Bath hooker Rob Webber is then guilty of fumbling a simple pass and it'll be another scrum. The pitch is already digging up something rotten, but Exeter's set-piece is good again.

First scrum of the day then, inside the Chiefs half. Exeter have the put-in and, thanks to a decent shove by their pack, recycle the ball well.

The set-piece was a real problem in the West Country derby between Bath and Gloucester at Kingsholm last week, with only one successful scrum in the entire 80 minutes. So far, so good at The Rec, however.

Bath fly-half George Ford gets us under way, Henry Slade gathers the high ball, and Gareth Steenson returns with interest. Let's do this.

The teams are out at The Rec, Bath in their familiar blue, black and white hoops and Exeter Chiefs in their all-white strip.

A few clouds in the sky, a few drops of rain on the ground, but not a snowflake in sight, thank goodness.