Nowell talks ongoing says Baxter

By Mark Stevens
15/10/22

Rob Baxter has confirmed talks are ongoing between Exeter Chiefs and Jack Nowell over a potential new contract with the Gallagher Premiership club.

Speculation over the future of the 29-year-old has been rife in recent weeks, particularly as his current contract runs out at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Nowell - a product of the club's highly successful Academy set-up - first made his debut for the Chiefs back in 2012 and has since gone on to feature 151 times, scoring 42 tries in the process.

"Conversations have been ongoing with Jack for a while and they're heading in a direction they're heading in," said Baxter, the Chiefs Director of Rugby. "I think there's every chance that he will stay, but I'm not making decisions for him right now.

"Timescales are going to become pressing for decisions to get made for both parties, for him and for us, but they're not going to happen in the next 24 hours. Those discussions are ongoing and as far as I'm concerned they're heading along OK."

Nowell, who has won two Premiership titles and the 2020 European Champions Cup with the Chiefs, has been in the England squad at the past two World Cups, winning 42 international caps along the way.

"Jack and I have known each other for a long time, we've done a lot of contract discussions in the past - we can have three discussions about it in a day, it's not a big deal," continued Baxter. "It's not like we sit in a room and I push a piece of paper in front of him and say 'you sign that now or else you walk away'. Contract discussions are never like that and I don't expect they ever will be."

He added: "I'm not sitting here for one second saying Jack Nowell's definitely staying and I'm certainly not sitting here saying he's definitely going, it's just an ongoing situation."

Nowell's Exeter and England team-mate Sam Simmonds has already agreed to leave the club next summer. The 2020 European Player of the Year will move to Montpellier after the World Cup to replace Zach Mercer, who is returning to England to join Gloucester.

"It ended up being quite a quick call around Sam Simmonds for various reasons because everything just dropped into place with Montpellier losing a player, with Sam being available, so that was a very easy one once I sat down with Sam," said Baxter.

"It was almost a non-conversation. It wasn't a conversation about his contract, it was a non-conversation about his contract, that's how clear cut it was.

"Those circumstances happen and I'll be very open and honest with them. We said to Sam straight away 'you don't need to think there's any issue here, if it's easier to get it done before it all starts to drip and speculation happens, let's just make the announcement', which we did. And it'll be the same with Jack.

"If Jack wants us to make a statement on him leaving we'll make one, but we're certainly nowhere near that situation at the moment."