Despite losing all three of their matches so far this season, Exeter Chiefs captain Linde van der Velden feels the club have shown they deserve to be in the Premier 15s.

Chiefs were entered into the top league of English women’s rugby back in April, with their most recent defeat coming at the hands of Loughborough Lightning.

But Velden still believes her side have demonstrated that they belong in with the best teams.

She said: "We had a lot of good moments [in the Lightning match], there were phases when we really showed why we deserve to be here.

"What people need to realise is that some of the girls have only been with us for two, three, four weeks. The rest have been together for 12 weeks.

"So I think the rest of the season we’ll be growing every training session, every game and it’ll be really exciting what’s going to happen for the rest of the season."

The Chiefs, who have also lost to Bristol Bears and Gloucester-Hartpury, face Worcester Warriors next on November 7.