LEADING Exeter Chiefs out against Gloucester today will be the realisation of a dream for skipper Tommy Hayes.

The Irish lock moved to England five years ago with the aim of playing in the Premiership.

And, after three seasons with Plymouth Albion and two with Exeter, that ambition will be realised at 3pm today, when he leads the Chiefs into battle.

Hayes, 30, said he originally set himself a target of getting into the English top flight within 12 months of making the move from Munster.

But after taking to life in Devon better than he expected, Hayes stuck around and is now settled in the county with a wife and son.

"Playing in the Premiership was kind of the reason I moved over here in the first place," Hayes told Echo Sport.

"I moved over five years ago for a year originally just for a change of scenery. I wasn't going anywhere at Munster and I thought I'd give it a year over here to see if I could get into the Premiership.

"It didn't happen, but then I didn't end up in a hurry to get home either.

"I was still here three years later and that's when the opportunity to come to Exeter came up. I knew the club was going places and this was the club to be at to get to the Premiership.

"That made me want to stick around a lot more. I'm certainly proud to get the chance.

"It's the realisation of that ambition and hopefully we can make the most of it."

Hayes has played down the importance of himself being the man to captain Exeter in their first ever match in the Aviva Premiership.

For him the important thing is just to play in the match, whether he's captain or not. But he thinks it is a much bigger deal for the club as a whole. "I suppose it will be a big day for me, but it's more about the club," he said.

"When we won promotion I was happier for the club because the club had made massive investment to get to the Premiership.

"It's a massive occasion for the club and that's what I'm looking forward to.

"I want to play in this game — leading the team out or not is not a massive issue. I'm proud to be captain, but it's more about the occasion."

Hayes thinks the Chiefs have to raise their game by up to 15 per cent to be competitive in the elite league and retain their place for next season.

"We knew we would have to raise our game before we played any of the pre-season friendlies," he said.

"We knew our game had to be upped by 10 to 15 per cent in all the areas just to be classed as Premiership standard.

"I would like to think we have a good pre-season behind us. I know we didn't win two of the friendlies but we still put down a good pre-season.

"Hopefully we can keep improving week by week — that's the main issue for us. As long as we keep doing that I think we'll be okay.

"We have to look at the Bristol games at the end of last season being the platform not the peak. That's the base we have to launch ourselves from."