Heather Fell, Olympic modern pentathlete silver medallist, writes about her life in the media and sports world.

THE monkey has been shaken off their back at last and history made — on Sunday afternoon Exeter Chiefs beat local rivals Bath for the first time in 36 years and finally putting an end to a frustrating statistic.

The Chiefs took the leap up into the premiership four years ago and haven't looked back since, proving they belong among the top flight of English teams but this scalp had always eluded them.

So many nail bitingly close encounters came and went including a 12-12 all draw at home last season and another close game away at the beginning of this season. Even though Bath have been on incredible form I knew this statistic had to change soon and I was determined not to miss it; so much so I changed my airline tickets to ensure I could attend this latest game.

It all seemed like painful déjà vu when less than 30 seconds after the whistle Bath had gone over for a try and at half time still had more points on the board. After another 40 minutes of the closest and most exciting rugby I've seen this season Exeter Chiefs finally did it while also booking themselves a place in the LV cup final at home.

It made for a fantastic start to this trip and I managed to dash home to squeeze in a bit more rugby before heading to the airport. Another significant result saw England put things right against Wales and keep themselves in contention to win the Six Nations.

The only problem I have now is how to watch the finals of these respective tournaments from somewhere in the China Sea; a dilemma I shouldn't complain about but I'll explain more next week.