University pathway reaping rich rewards for Chiefs

By Mark Stevens
16/5/23

Haydn Thomas has hailed the blossoming pathway programme that of Exeter Chiefs and the University of Exeter.

Senior coach Thomas, who combines his day-to-day job with the Chiefs with that of a coaching and development role within the University set-up, believes the success stories that continue to come from the link-up is clear to see.

Fresh from making it back-to-back BUCS Super Rugby titles with their extra time victory over Loughborough University, the former scrum-half highlighted how the partnership is proving to be a smash hit for both parties.

“The partnership has been in place for a great number of years, but these past two years in particular have shown some unbelievable success stories,” said Thomas. “Winning back-to-back BUCS titles has been fantastic, especially given that we have had a number of Chiefs players involved, but also we’ve seen the likes of Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins, both go on to establish themselves firmly within the Chiefs first team ranks and also at full Test Match level with Wales.

“There have been others too, guys like Will Becconsall, Tom Cairns, both of whom have played in the Gallagher Premiership and Heineken Champions Cup, as well as in the Premiership Rugby Cup winning side alongside the likes of Dan John, Orson James, Ross Vintcent, Ollie Leatherbarrow, Oli Burrows and Zack Wimbush.

“For young players who want to combine being involved in professional rugby with that of education at one of the leading universities in the country, the pathway is clearly there and is proven to be working. Having that close relationship with the university like we do is clearly a ‘win-win’ for everyone.

“Also, Rob Baxter (Chiefs Director of Rugby) is fully behind the programme as he has seen first hand the benefits it can bring to the club in terms of future growth and squad development.”

And it was one of the current Chiefs stars, who turned match-winners at the StoneX Stadium, scrum-half Cairns clinching the title win for the Green and Whites after the scores had finished level at 41-41 following an absorbing 80 minutes.

Baxter himself is delighted at the progress being made through the link-up, adding: “We have spent a lot of time as a club trying to make this pathway work and I can’t give Keith Fleming (University Director of Rugby) enough credit for the programme he has been able to put together.

“To win two BUCS titles in a row takes something special, especially when you think in a programme you do have a rotation of players and you do lose players each year, that’s an incredible achievement!

“But the two guys who I really want to talk about – and I work with them every day here at the club – are Haydn Thomas and Gareth Elliott. People probably don’t realise they work full-time here at the Chiefs and then they almost do a similar thing at the University as well. They are very driven around how the training sessions are run and how they are put together – and they are very involved in how they are delivered and how we analyse them afterwards.

“What they are doing in these roles, they are a high-quality coaching pair. Aligned with what Keith wants and what Richard Hodges wants at the University, also the involvement of Nic Sestaret as well with the freshers especially, it’s a group of guys who are doing some extremely good work. Sometimes they are the guys who get less credit than others, yet they are leading a significant amount of things both for the Chiefs and for the University.

“Watching what those guys do to keep that pathway open – and I know Haydn in particular – these last two or three months, he’s almost been like an irritating fly the amount of good players he’s been bringing to my attention, who might be potentially coming to Exeter University. It’s not until we’ve investigated them, that we realise just how many of them could be potential players for us in the future.”