Exeter Chiefs duo agree new deals

Mitch Lees and Ian Whitten have committed their futures to the Exeter Chiefs having both agreed a new three-year deal with the Champions of English rugby.

Just days after long-serving fly-half Gareth Steenson signed a new three-year contract, two of his club-mates have followed suit by agreeing similar terms that will keep them at the club until 2021.

Director of Rugby Baxter is pleased to announce the news.

“Obviously we’re delighted that both Mitch and Whitts have signed new deals,” said Baxter. “Both are important members of the squad, so to have them around the place for another three years is fantastic news for us.

“Both have come to us through different routes, but both have taken their opportunity here with both hands. Whitts has obviously been here a little bit longer, but he’s played a lot of very high quality games and been a key part of helping drive us forward as a club.

“For me, it was an easy decision to ask him to stay. From day one, he’s a guy you can see who takes his training and his rugby very seriously. When we first looked at him, he was a player who had played a fair bit for Ulster, but he was just below that frontline for them and he was desperate to come somewhere where he would play more regularly."

Baxter knows Lees, 29, offers an equally importance presence to that of Whitten, 30, who signed for the Chiefs back in the summer of 2012 from Ulster.

Baxter added: “Mitch took the opportunity to come to this country to play professional rugby at London Welsh and as people know, we often look at the Championship as an important breeding ground for players. We took a really close look at Mitch and we liked what we saw.

“He’s come in and become a very important cog in our forward machine. Again, he is someone who has taken on board a lot of the lessons that have been asked of him, both from myself and Rob Hunter, and although as a club we’d like to take credit for his development over the past few years, I think you have to hand him a great deal of credit as well because here is a guy who has taken the opportunity given to him, worked hard to improve, and ultimately he’s got better and better.

“I’ve no doubt, a bit like Whitts, Mitch will be a key player for us moving forward and that he will help drive standards onwards and upwards here at the club.”​