'The future's bright' - Armand

The duo were among nine changes Baxter had made to his winning formula from the week previous, but it appeared to matter not as the Chiefs simply went about their on-field business with effortless ease.

England international Armand - who has been with the Chiefs for five years now - has been part of the club’s impressive rise, but he’s also seen at first-hand the development strides made by so many of Exeter’s rising stars.

“Obviously it was fantastic to see some of the big dogs come back into the side today,” said Armand in a light-hearted reference to the playing return of experienced stars such as Jack Nowell, Ben Moon, Jonny Hill and Dave Dennis.

“Equally, those guys who have been waiting in the wings for their chance, it’s great to see them step up and come in and put in performances like they have today. It shows the strength in depth we have within the squad it underlines what an incredibly bright future the club has.”

Although not as slick as their opening day victory against the Tigers, the table-topping Chiefs still had too much for the visiting Sharks, who countered with tries of their own through Marland Yarde and Bryn Evans, together with eight points from fly-half AJ MacGinty.

“Sale came out and played a good game,” added Armand. “At times they forced us into some tough situations and we ended up making a few mistakes. Thankfully, we pulled a few things together - particularly in the second half - and we came away with the win and the points we wanted.”

Next up for the Chiefs is this Friday’s trip to Newcastle Falcons, who themselves warmed up for the clash by picking up their first win of the season at the weekend, defeating Worcester Warriors at Sixways.

Armand knows from past experiences that trips to the North East are never plain sailing and that the Chiefs will need to rise to the challenge once again if they are to maintain their 100 per cent record.

“The nature of the Premiership is that every team is a challenge,” he warned. “You know as players that if you don’t pitch up on the day, you’ll soon be 20 points down on the scoreboard and leaving yourself with a huge job to do.

“We’ve talked a lot about making sure we reset ourselves after every game and go back to basics. If we do that, then we give ourselves a great chance. If we don’t, that can be when you suffer.”

The Chiefs will be hopeful that back-row duo Matt Kvesic and Sam Simmonds will be fit for selection for the Falcons clash. Both players were forced to miss the Sale game due to illness, meaning the call-ups for Lonsdale, Lawday and Aussie international Dennis, who came on as a second half replacement.