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Exeter Chiefs sign Sam Nixon from Bayonne
By Sam Smith
Exeter Chiefs have confirmed the signing of tighthead prop Sam Nixon from Bayonne in the Top 14.
The 6'4, 124kg front-rower says it’s a ‘dream come true’ to sign a two-year contract with Exeter. Nixon is one two signings revealed by Exeter today, with giant Western Force second row Ryan McCauley also being added to the ranks at Sandy Park.
The 24-year-old returns to English rugby having spent a productive season in France with Bayonne. Before that, the Dorchester-born tight-head was at Bath, featuring for the club in the Premiership, Heineken Champions Cup, as well as the Premiership Rugby Cup.
"I’m massively looking forward to things," said Nixon. "For me, it’s a dream come true to come back to the South West and play for a great club so close to home.
"Over the years, I’ve come up against Exeter a few times and you know it’s always going to be a tough test for you as an opponent. They’ve lead the way for a long time and just turning up for training here, you can see the standards are at a new level.
"I’m just going to get stuck into the training, listen to the coaches and just soak up as much info as I can to help me improve."
Nixon also enjoyed a loan spell with Plymouth Albion during the 2016/17 season. He believes his French experience will also serve him well at Exeter.
"I won’t lie, it was a weird one, especially with the whole Covid thing," he added. "It was, however, a good experience and I learnt a lot. The fans over there were unbelievable, very passionate, and that just helped bring the best out in me."
And now Nixon hopes to take his form from last season into this latest campaign and is now ripping in to pre-season. "Pre-season is always tough, wherever you are. That said, everyone has turned up in good nick, everyone is working hard and we’re just looking to hit the ground running. For me, it’s good to be tested every day and see where I am. Hopefully, pre-season will go to plan and that I’ll put myself in with a shout for selection that first week."
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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