Rugby-Chiefs a rising force in English Premiership

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - While all eyes have been on the November Internationals, unheralded Exeter Chiefs players have produced some of the best rugby in England, Premiership statistics revealed on Wednesday. Despite six players away on international duty, the Chiefs claimed their first ever Premiership win at champions Northampton Saints with a 24-18 victory last week to move up to second in the table. According to Opta, Exeter flanker Don Armand made more tackles (20) than any other player in the top division and won the most turnovers (three), while team mate Damian Welch won more lineouts than anyone else during the seventh round of fixtures. Since gaining promotion to the Premiership for the first time four years ago, the Chiefs have taking some illustrious scalps in the league and qualified for European competition with top-six finishes in their previous two campaigns. They won the Anglo-Welsh Cup last season to confirm their place amongst the top clubs in the country and look set to mount a serious title-challenge this campaign. Friday's clash between the league's top two proved to be a high-class encounter with a number of Saints players also producing excellent performances in defeat. Phil Dowson, Ben Foden and James Wilson were the top three ball carriers in the league and Saints centre Tom Stephenson beat a league-best six defenders during the match. Fullback Foden continued his exile from the England squad that lost to South Africa on Saturday but he gave England head coach Stuart Lancaster further food for thought by making the most metres in the league (132). (Reporting by Sam Holden; editing by Justin Palmer)