Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Will Goodrick-Clarke signs a deal taking him back the Premiership

Will Goodrick-Clarke playing for a 2022 England XV versus the Barbarians (Photo by Alex Davidson/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

England hopeful Will Goodrick-Clarke is back in the Gallagher Premiership after agreeing a deal with Exeter following a one-season pitstop in the Championship. The prop was made redundant last June when London Irish folded and he opted to play second-tier rugby with a view to getting back into the top-fight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ealing Trailfinders snapped him up and following a title-winning season with the Londoners, he has now been signed by Rob Baxter’s Chiefs on an unspecified length contract following an initial report by RugbyPass last December that the front-rower had been sounded out about moving to Sandy Park.

A statement read: “Exeter Chiefs have bolstered their front row depth with the addition of loosehead prop Will Goodrick-Clarke ahead of the 2024/25 season. The former London Irish man joins from the Championship side, Ealing Trailfinders.

Video Spacer

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus speak about potential captains for the Wales Test

Video Spacer

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus speak about potential captains for the Wales Test

“The 28-year-old prop first picked up a rugby ball as a youngster at Stow-on-the-Wold in Cheltenham. Having honed his talents, he earned a place in the Gloucester academy before cutting his teeth in adult rugby with Richmond in the Championship.

“His performances for the London second-tier side led to him catching the eye of the former Premiership club, London Irish. Goodrick-Clarke made over 50 club appearances, becoming a key figure amongst the ranks of the aspiring side.

“Spotted by then-England coach Eddie Jones, the Englishman was involved in multiple international training camps before a non-capped appearance came in 2022 against the Barbarians at Twickenham.”

“I’m relishing the chance to get back out there, play in these big games, and see what I can contribute to this Chiefs team,” said Goodrick-Clarke.

ADVERTISEMENT

Exeter boss Baxter added: “We knew some looseheads would be moving on and we wanted to replace them, as well as add to what we have here by signing a quality player who we knew had Premiership experience but was also of the right age range to be here for a prolonged time with a lot of rugby left in him.

“Will fills that mould fantastically for us. He is an established player who was playing very well for London Irish at the time of their demise. He had worked closely with Ross McMillan and Ross had a lot of good things to say about him – his work ethic, the quality of player and the person that he is.

“We watched a lot of him playing in the Championship this season and saw he was playing well, so we think he will be a fantastic addition to our squad. We know he is desperate to get back into playing in the Premiership to push on and try to be successful and win trophies. And that’s exactly the type of player we’re looking to bring in.

“He is a guy that has got some experience already but that we will help to keep improving and hopefully he can be the type of guy that helps to drive us forward and be a successful team in the future.”

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Boks Office | Episode 32 | How To Win Europe

Round 12 Highlights | PWR 2024/25

Bristol Bears vs Gloucester-Hartpury | PWR 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo vs Kobelco Kobe Steelers | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match

Edinburgh vs Brython | Celtic Challenge 2024/25 | Match Highlights

Yokohama Canon Eagles vs Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

Global Schools Challenge | Day 2 Replay

AUSTRALIA vs USA behind the scenes | HSBC SVNS Embedded | E04

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

R
RedWarrior 2 hours ago
Could Jacques Nienaber be linked with Ireland job after exerting Bok influence on Leinster?

The disjointed Ireland AI matches are as a result of the imbalance between Leinsters style and Ireland's style in my opinion. Ireland probably should get Felix Jones in to work defence. With Nienaber in Leinster and Jones in Ireland, the International team would become incredibly difficult for anyone to beat. That situation is Ireland's problem now not Leinsters.

A fully loaded Toulouse team last year were saved by the width of a post from Frawleys drop and a decision not to take a scrum (Leinster were smashing Toulouse) probbaly gaining a penalty or minumim a drop attempt.

Leinster are concedeing 8 points less than last year and that is including 2 outlier matches (Edinburgh and Ulster) where high points were conceded in controlled wins.

Toulouse will have to be better than last year to beat Leinster.

I am amazed at your assessment that they are not favourites for the URC. They have a lot of clear ground leading the league. They will finish in first place and have home matches all the way. They lost last year away in Pretoria to an impressive Bulls performance. If a URC team wants to win the URC they will have to beat Leinster in the Aviva. Maybe, but Leinster are favourites surely?

Lastly you will see how the depth of Leinster is maturing. Last year the second team shipped points in SA. Its Bulls and Sharks for them this year. Lets see what happens there.

20 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Ex-Ireland centre Chris Farrell sacked by Oyonnax Ex-Ireland centre Chris Farrell sacked by Oyonnax
Search