A large contingent of the Exeter players who lifted the 2020 Heineken Champions Cup will depart in the summer, with the likes of hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, lock Dave Ewers, No.8 Sam Simmonds, fly-half Joe Simmonds, wing Jack Nowell and full-back Stuart Hogg among those playing their swansong campaigns for the club.

For Skelton, who is well-acquainted with Chiefs following his time with Saracens, that added emotional edge is far more important than the travelling side’s patchy domestic form.

“You look at the European games and they have performed; we haven’t really looked too much into the Premiership form,” the Australia international stated.

“You see the results, that they get beat by 60 by Harlequins is not something they would have been too proud of, but we haven’t been looking at their results too much.

“Exeter are a world class team; we were lucky enough to beat them a couple of times in finals [with Saracens] which could have swung either way.

“I remember them having a strong maul as well – a massive key for their success – but I think they are little different now with a number of players leaving. It’s almost their last hurrah against us this weekend.

“Their core group has been together for a long time, they’ve all won trophies together, they’ve kept themselves as a tight-knit group down there at Exeter so I think with so many changes this will definitely be their last dance.

“I think Exeter are a great team and they’ll definitely bring it this weekend and it will be a really physical match that I’m really looking forward to.”

“They are a world class team that have threats all over the park, so it’s going to be a tough game for us on Sunday.”

Skelton is set to make his 38th appearance in the Heineken Champions Cup this weekend, and is gunning for a third title after successes with Saracens in 2019 and La Rochelle last year.

The 30-year-old branded the competition as the best on the planet and is already eyeing up a meeting with one of the newly added South African teams next season.

“I think it’s a great tournament, probably the best club rugby tournament in the world. You get to play different teams in Europe, and now there are South Africans as well,” he added. “We were unlucky not to draw one, but maybe next year there will be an opportunity.

“You get to travel, you get to play different styles of rugby, I think that what I loved first coming to play at Saracens was I got to play against teams in France, teams in Scotland, Wales, Ireland – and you get to test yourself against the best – so for me it’s the pinnacle of club rugby.”

Skelton’s passion for the Heineken Champions Cup has only been furthered by La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara - the all-time leading points scorer in the competition and a two-time champion with Munster Rugby – and he explained how the former Ireland fly-half has changed the club’s mentality.

“He says it all the time, he has got a lot more experience in this competition than us – he's won comps, he’s lost comps,” he said. ‘He knows, especially when we play teams from the United Rugby Championship, he always says ‘when you play them in Europe this is their World Cup’.

“They almost don’t put everything into the URC because Europe is the pinnacle for the Irish and Welsh teams

“He tries to put that emphasis onto us, so we are ready for it. I think it’s a bit different with the TOP 14, that’s the cup you want to win, but he’s definitely changed that in the club.”

Stade Rochelais lock Will Skelton says Exeter Chiefs will have an added incentive in Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final in Bordeaux given the number of their players who are leaving or retiring at the end of the season.