Woodburn joins Exeter

Editor

Exeter have completed the signing of Bath winger Olly Woodburn as they ramp up their recruitment for next season.

The Chiefs have already announced the signing of England lock Geoff Parling from Leicester, but are set to lose Welsh winger Tom James at the end of the season.

Woodburn represents a like-for-like replacement for the Wales international, having come up through the ranks at Bath.

Just 23-years-old, Woodburn has been on the fringes of the Bath team this season, but Chiefs boss Rob Baxter believes he has plenty of room for development at Sandy Park.

“We know Tom James is leaving and we’ve got other players who are out of contract in the back three, so we knew we had to recruit some players in that position and had a look around,” director of rugby Baxter told the Chiefs official website.

“Olly being a good age, having got some decent Premiership experience and looking like a player who’s improving all the time and still got a way to go in the way he develops as a rugby player, we believe he’s got a lot of attributes that make him selectable in a Premiership team.

“Sometimes that is something you can forget, who get carried away and look at one positive aspect a player brings – they might have a devastating sidestep or electric pace – but what you have to have more and more now in the Premiership as a back-three player is an all-round package.”