Chiefs bag new prop

Ehren Painter joins from Northampton

Exeter Chiefs have signed a new prop and he's starting right away.

Ehren Painter is joining from Premiership rivals Northampton Saints.

The 6ft 3in tight-head, who is 24, has played 84 times for the Saints, and tips the scales at 133kg. He made his senior debut for the club against Saracens in 2018 and has been a regular within their first-team ranks ever since.

Born in London, he represented England at age-grade level, including for the under-20s in both the Six Nations and World Rugby Championships in 2018.

“I’m looking forward to the move and being part of what should be a really exciting end to the season,” he said. “Exeter are a club I have huge respect for. Having come up against them numerous times in the past, you know the threat they pose in terms of their pack of forwards.
“Strengths of what they do well are what I like to think I have within my own game.

Going down there, testing myself in a new environment, I think it will be good for my game. Having a new outlook on things, learning from different coaches, playing with different players, it’s all going to add to my game.

Painter is Exeter’s second new addition to the front-row inside a week with the Chiefs confirming at the weekend the arrival of Georgian loosehead Nika Abuladze.

Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “Knowing that Harry [Williams) would be leaving at the end of the season, we’ve being keeping a close eye on the tight-head market.”

"Obviously, we’ve got the likes of Marcus Street, Patrick Schickerling and Josh Iosefa-Scott already here, but we had already started talking to Ehren and Northampton about him potentially joining earlier than the start of next season.