'A silent assassin' - Dave Walder heralds 'brilliant' Greg Fisilau after another superb performance for Exeter against Leicester in Gallagher PREM

Exeter Chiefs are truly a resurgent force right now. After starting 2025 in ninth place in the PREM table, they will enter 2026 in second. One of the main components in their revival has been No. 8 Greg Fisilau, who scored twice against Saracens and another against Leicester Tigers to close out a superb period of wins for Exeter. Live coverage of the Gallagher PREM is on TNT Sports and discovery+.

'A silent assassin' - Chiefs attack coach Walder relishing working with 'brilliant' Fisilau

Video credit: TNT Sports

Exeter Chiefs attack coach Dave Walder is relishing the chance to work with a flourishing talent like Greg Fisilau, calling the 22-year-old a "silent assassin".

The No. 8 was once again at the heart of another impressive display from the Chiefs, who closed out their year with a statement win over Leicester Tigers.

Sunday's 24-10 victory means they will begin 2026 in second place in the Gallagher PREM table. They started 2025 ninth in the league, during a dismal campaign, and this win continues an incredible turnaround in form for Rob Baxter's team.

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Fisilau was on hand to storm to the line for Exeter's opening try, just a week after he scored twice in a huge away win over Saracens.

"He's brilliant to work with, the number of times he gets his arm free in the tackle," Walder told TNT Sports.

"He's got the physicality, the soft skills, we build a lot of things around him. He's a great person, very quiet, a bit of a silent assassin, but he's definitely got an edge to him at times, and he's brilliant to have on our team."

Whilst heading into the new year in second place will delight Chiefs players and fans alike, much of Sandy Park was under the belief their side would end the year at the top of the table - above Northampton Saints - as the clock ticked into the red.

Campbell Ridl, who scored a stunning chip and chase in the first half, dived over in the corner late in the match but lost control of the ball.

Will Goodrick-Clarke made the same mistake, crashing over from close range only to see the ball dislodged from his grasp.

Chiefs had several tries chalked off over the entire 80 minutes, which left a slightly anti-climactic feeling hanging over the ground, but it was a formidable performance overall, defined by an opening 30 minutes filled with flair and physicality up front.

'A try he'll remember forever!' - Sublime Ridl chip and chase score extends Chiefs lead

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"That's the pleasing thing, the emotional energy we turned up with today was probably a little bit more than Leicester's," Walder explained.

"Disappointed with our accuracy at key moments, we could have made it a bit more comfortable for ourselves. But you would have taken a win if you were offered it this morning.

"It's based on hard work. You go up to Sarries last week, and we were disappointed not to take the bonus point, and then today we were disappointed we left a point out there.

"I think that's a mark of where we've come from, that we're disappointed not to be taking the extra points.

"I came into an environment that was pretty much rock bottom. Everyone working hard but not having the conversations you needed to have to become more efficient and effective.

"There was a line in the sand drawn by Rob in pre-season. It's a different environment, different club and different group now.

"We've got to take the good things that work with this group and add things to make it better. Boys are taking information on, we've simplified things and the way we're performing at the moment, it's great to be part of."

Highlights: Chiefs shoot to second in PREM table with emphatic win over Tigers

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Fisilau, who is more comfortable letting his performances do the talking, spoke to TNT Sports in the aftermath about how important the win was.

"It's huge. We spoke about turning it around from last season, so to come out today and make a big statement against a good Tigers side is huge for us," Fisilau said.

"It started with our mindset going into pre-season. The lads had a really tough pre-season, and we've brought that into the start of the season and built really good habits around training, and that's carried into our games and managed to put ourselves on the right side of results.

"Bath obviously didn't get the win on the weekend, we know they're going to be firing for us coming down there. Same as this week and every week, try and go there and put our best foot forward."

'The poorest we've been emotionally' - Parling

Leicester head coach Geoff Parling, who was disheartened by the defeat, believes his side's performance was "the poorest" this season in terms of emotion and edge.

"I thought it was the poorest we've been emotionally," Parling said. "We lacked an edge, especially in that first 30 minutes. I've got to look at how we prepped the week because I just didn't think we were on today.

"I thought we had an intermittent training week, some days were good, and some were bad. We're not good enough yet to have those off days. That's the first game I thought the group will admit we weren't on edge with our collisions and how we were playing.

"The main thing for me is we're back at home and we've got to play with the right sort of edge. Because that wasn't our DNA today."

Watch and stream the Gallagher PREM and Premiership Women's Rugby on TNT Sports and discovery+

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