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Matt will love that.

There's more chance of Matt signing Pooly to be his assistant Director of Rugby than there is of Prop selling Warbs

Director of Rugby at Exeter Chiefs, Fluxy, sat down with BBC Devon to discuss the remainder of the season and what outcomes may come from the Chiefs long run in. 

"We had a bit of a sticky period over the Six Nations with quite a few of our lads involved with their respective nations. It was quite hard without the likes of Paulie (O'Connell), James (Haskell), Connor (Murray) and Cammy (Lopez), who are big leaders in the squad. That is not to take anything away from the lads who deputized during this period, but when your miss lads of that quality and confidence they provide, it is difficult to keep everything on track. 
Hopefully within a week or two those lads that had a tough Six Nations campaign will be back and firing, tie that in with boys returning from injury much like Cian (Healy) and Max (Medard) and all of a sudden the situation begins to look a lot rosier!


As for our remaining games, we will first and foremost target our home games for wins, as it is the fans that have helped us perform so well this season. We know that in our remaining games we come up against a lot of big teams, and in particular sides chasing one of the elusive Top 4 spots for the end of the campaign. However as we have proven to those sides so far this season we are a match for more than most, and at Sandy Park, with that 16th man we will overcome most. This will hopefully enable to finish in the top 6 this year and will be a massive achievement for us after a strong season last year, consolidating our position within the Aviva Premiership. 
Then there is our European campaign. We hope to go quite far in Challenge Cup but there are some big teams still left in the competition. But as I mentioned at the beginning with some lads returning into the squad, there is no reason why we can't be in the mix towards the finishing line of this competition!"

Fluxy also went on to mention that he was delighted to bring in someone of Sean's (O'Brien) quality to the fold, and thanked both Toby (Faletau) and Lol(agi) (Visinia) for their time and efforts at the Club and wished them the best for their time in Bath. 

Chiefs Turn Their attentions to Challenge Cup after frustrating loss

Chiefs Director of Rugby Fluxy was absolutely devastated at the final whistle of their recent home game against Northampton Saints. His valiant and courageous side were leading perennial top four side and league heavyweights Northampton, until with only one minute to go on the clock the ref gave the Saints a rather innocuous penalty to allow the Saints to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

After the game Fluxy was in such a temper that he did not partake in any post match interviews, in the manner the game was taken from his sides grasp. 
In the Monday copy of the Exeter Express and Echo, Fluxy had apologised for behaviour after the game, but was still not impressed with the result. However he stated that his side have now switched their attention to the forthcoming fixture against Saracens in the Challenge Cup and will expect his side to take out their frustration and annoyance on a strong Saracens side, who will look turn their attentions for a chance to win silverware.

Are you insinuating the referee cheated Flux? lol

No no, just fabricating a story that the ref gave away a last minute penalty eg, Leinster/Bath

Ok then

You off again? Lol

No mate, just changing to London Irish.

From what I can understand, they're swapping?!

Ah, CJ taking over the Wasps name?

Yes mate. Easier for SJE to do the fixtures if we lose Welsh rather than Irish, and with me being Irish supporter I asked if I could take over as them. Just a rebrand really.

Ah okay, makes sense! I thought you were both swapping hot seats lol

3rd bottom for you next season then Pete

Could be

"Pooly happy with recruitment"

The Saracens manager has stated he's more than happy with the current recruitment drive at Saracens and can't wait for the season to start. Pooly:

"We've been busy in the market and I'm thrilled with the guys we've been able to bring in. It's always a shame to lose top players but you've got to mix it up to kick on and I think we've brought in some real quality. Fekitoa leaving for Sale was a real tough one to do but I couldn't stand in his way from playing for the AP finalists and we got some top players back.

Rory Best - This is a real area of strength for us with having the French No1 hooker and AB legend Mealamu. Rory comes in at his peak and being one of the best hookers currently about will give us some real competition. His basics are great and his breakdown work is exceptional which will complement our pack balance alongside Dan Cole, Brussow and Dusatoir.

Geoff Parling - We were delighted to get Geoff in and he's playing some great stuff at the minute. There's few locks better at the lineout and he'll help us gain a platform there. His work around the park is renowned and he'll really help the youngsters with their set piece training.

Will Skelton - A huge signing for in every way, the lad is an absolute brute and already one of the best 4's in the world. His fitness has came on leaps and his carrying is un-paralleled really, we're really looking forward to seeing him tearing the AP up.

Will Fraser - With a bit more luck with injuries Will would be around the England team I think. He's got a fantastic all round game and is a real menace around the breakdown, there's few English guys better to be honest.

Akira Ioane - We're really excited about bringing in Akira and he signals our intent to get world class youth talent in. He was head and shoulders above any other player in the U20 WC and will only get better. He's a freak of a talent and I think he'll be the AB 6 for years to come once he breaks into the side.

Beuden Barrett - We were disappointed to lose Ben Foley but what a player to bring in. He's been immense this season and just seems to keep getting better and better. His all round game is fantastic and is the quickest pivot I've seen in a long time. His attacking play will really help us develop as a side and I can't wait to line him up with Morgan Parra, Sonny Bill and Conrad.

Conrad Smith - The best 13 in the world and one of the most intelligent backs of the last 10 years. Getting Smith in really helped soften the Fekitoa blow, he'll bring a new dimension to attack and defence.

Henry Trinder - Henry has slipped under the radar a little and he's struggled with injuries over the last few years. Hopefully we can keep him injury free and get him back fighting for an England jersey.

Stuart Hogg - Arguably the best FB in the NH and a huge threat in attack. He was exceptional last season and gives us real pace from the back 3. With him and Beuden attacking from deep we're going to see some special tries next season.

Driver steps into London Irish void.

Following the shock departure of Ozzy, London Irish chiefs acted quickly too bring in rugby's equivalent of Gus Hiddink in former Falcons and Exeter coach Driver.

Driver had the following to say on taking the reins in Reading

Michael Driver wrote:''I am very happy too be here, the club is moving forward on the pitch and off the field thanks too the fantastic ground work laid by Ozzy''

''I'll be keeping hold of the current coaching staff and allowing the same playing philosophies that have been used over the course of the season so far''

''Player movements are not something I am interested in talking about at the minute. We must maintain consistency and allow the players to flourish here and security is a big part of that'' 

''With regards too any potential additions too the coaching staff we've secured the services of Ian Peel from the RFU and England U20s who'll predominatly work with our Academy.

Chiefs reeling after O'Connell's Retirement

After a few weeks have passed Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Fluxy, finally had a chance to sit down and discuss how the Chiefs season has progressed and the sad retirement of Chiefs Captains, Irish legend and British and Irish Lion colossus Paul O'Connell.

'We have a pretty reasonable season up until the beginning of January. Then when we had the chance to review Paulie's injury situation, at the beginning of February and he wasn't recovering, we knew it would be best for him, not to push it too far and call it a day there. It is a sad moment, but at least he managed to leave on a high, leading the boys out in front of a packed Sandy Park, and picking up the win against Sarries. And we all wish the very best for the future, however we are keeping him involved at the Club and he is now head of our academy. It would be sad to lose all of that knowledge and experience without being able to spread that on, and it is a great example for the young lads to follow. We have some great talents, especially the likes of Camille [Chat], Taniela [Tupou], Scott [Otten], Jack [Stanley], Josh [Goodhue], who will all benefit from have Paulie around.

It does mean that on the field, our success has stagnated this season. We have dropped from being 6th at one point, now down to 11th. We will look into the market to shake the squad up, we would to have looked later in the season, when things become more settled and we know where we are. However that was taking into consideration that this would have been Paulie's last year and allowed us time to size up a replacement. Now the timescale has sped up, so we are more fluid in looking for a some new talent for the Club.'

Driver Delighted Too Add Hungery Pair Too Exciles




London Irish today confirmed the additions of England and Ireland international pair Tom Wood and Sean Cronin, calling both players hungry and eager.

Tom Wood and Sean Cronin both arrived at Hazlewood this morning on two year deals and Driver is delighted too add there experience and qualities too the title chase as it hots up.

''Tom in the back row is just what we needed in this time, in showed at times against Worcester at the weekend that we need someone to mix things up in the tight and let our big boys play there normal game in the loose and Tom Brings that balance'' On Sean Cronin Driver had this too say ''Sean's a hooker with great basics and you don't get 50 caps for Ireland if your not up too the mark''.

Chiefs welcome new signings

Exeter Chiefs welcomed eight new signings, ahead of the final stretch of season, and following the Easter Weekend. This morning at their second training session Director of Rugby Fluxy had the opportuniy to introduce his new signings to the press. 

'It is a great moment for the Club to welcome some of Sergio's [Parrisse] stature, not just at International level, but also at Club level. He has been a stalwart for Stade Francais and Northampton Saints over the years, and brings a wealth of experience, not just the young lads in the squad but for the Club as a whole. The same can also be said for Castro, who is itching to prove he still has gas in the tank, especially after such a strong showing for Italy during the Six Nations. I also delighted to have been able to bring in Courtney [Lawes] and Marcell [Coetzee]. Both young lads that will bring a physical edge to the side, but are also great at looking at the finer details, as well as possessing great experience that belays their youth. The same can be said for Tom [Youngs], Sam [Hidalgo-Clyne] and Ollie [Devoto], they are all willing to learn and bring some different to the current options we have at the Club, and looks forward to them all pulling on a Chiefs shirt.
I was pleased to bring in Harry [Williams]. He's been pulling up trees for Jersey and will be anchor at the scrum but also has a great engine and hands for a big man. Someone so adept in all departments, but will learn a lot here and I can;t wait to work with him and hopefully reveal his potential.  

In other news, Exeter Braves face Bristol this evening in a hotly contested game at Sandy Park. Below is the the starting 15 for the Braves, with some new faces managing to get a start ahead, in a largely U23 based 15 for the home side. The bench compromises of: 16. Scott Otten, 17. Alex Lundberg, 18. Jack Stanley, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Brad Shields, 21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22. Will Hooley, 23. Liam Neill

London Irish welcome rugby league superstar.





London Irish today confirmed the long rumoured signing of Wigan Warrior's flyer Josh Charnley.

Charnley is one of top wingers in English RL and has found him self scoring tries for fun in the last few seasons including a double in the Challenge Cup final.

He'll remain with Wigan till the end of the current Rugby Union season whilst training with the Irish academy twice a week and featuring sparsely in games.

Exeter Chiefs and Fluxy Part Ways

After a three year period young director of rugby Fluxy, has handed in his resignation to the board of directors at Exeter Chiefs. Following a close meeting between both parties, the board of driectors did not wish to stand in the way of their successful director, following a period of establishing the side in the Aviva Premiership. The board went on the record to say:
'We are grateful for the time that Fluxy has put into the Exeter Chiefs side, and the talent he has brought to Sandy Park. He has put us on the map and has been unlucky with our European adventures, being knocked out at the Semi Final stages twice in the Challenge Cup, and a strong finish in his first season. The number of injuries and retirements has been very unfortunate this season, and has dented the season expectations.'

Fluxy has declined to comment in the meantime, however there is to be a press conference at midday from the now former Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby.

Oo the anticipation builds

Don't tell me Nando is the new manager ...

If he fancies it, although not so sure he's into the egg shaped ball...

I like Rugby but no i wouldn't know where to start The meme seemed appropriate since you've been here ages Fluxy. i randomly wander everywhere

Aha, never too late to start mate!

I never said what I was doing...

Fluxy takes the the hot seat at Welford Road

Following his resignation at Sandy Park, Fluxy has not taken long to find a new 'exciting challenge'. After the shock resignation of former Tigers boss Luke, Leicester Tigers have been on the hunt for a new Director of Rugby for the past week. However it now seems that have found their man, as Fluxy was presented to the press in attendance.

After agreeing a compensation package with the Exeter Chiefs, Leicester Tigers will now turn their focus to the foreign window which opens on Monday. With much excitement in the league, leading up to the bidding window being opened, everyone is now looking forward to an exciting 2016/17 season.

stnick rings the changes on premiership return

After a three year absence from Premiership rugby management, stnick has returned this week on an interim basis with the Exeter Chiefs. The news comes as boost to the Chiefs who currently sit winless on the bottom of the table after 3 games. stnick is well aware of the challenge that lies ahead but is hoping to start off with a win against Bristol. Numerous changes have been made to the side, with Domingo, Shields, White, Nonu and Medard replacing Poirot, Dixon, Hidalgo-Clyne, McCloskey and Ashton.

stnick was dealt a huge blow with the news of Chris Ashton's 13 week ban. However, he has wasted no time in the transfer market by agreeing the signings of Greg Laidlaw, Dave Ewers and Francis Saili. The deal see's the departures of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Elliot Dixon and Sam James. The club have also confirmed that they are close to sealing the signing of Clermont winger Noa Nakaitaci, to cover for the banned Ashton.

Leicester Tigers Knock Out Bath in Challenge Cup

Leicester Tigers tasted victory at Welford Road in not so favourable conditions, against perennial rivals Bath Rugby. With rain showers coming in and creating a greasy and at times testing surface for the two sides, the home side managed to secure victory with a late Kurtley Beale penalty to calm the nerves. 
The result didn't come without cost though, as both sides picked up a number of injuries. Tigers are left sweating over experience heads Stephen Moore and Pascal Pape, Club captain Don Armand and try scorer from the weekend Max Lahiff. 

Flux was quoted saying 'despite the injuries hopefully some of the young lads around the squad can put their hands up to make a claim towards a spot in the exciting end to the season. We also hope to see some these back in the next few weeks to challenge each other and really push on'.

Leicester, ironically, travel away to Bath this weekend in the Aviva Premiership, with the Somerset based side looking to avenge their European demise.

Tiger Mitchell Hangs Up Boots

Wallabies and Leicester Tigers winger Drew Mitchell has announced his retirement from rugby. Mitchell who has been with the Tigers with many seasons and become a stalwart for the Club, has been struggling with injuries over the past few seasons. 

Mitchell's latest injuries have included a thigh problem and a torn hamstring, after persistent groin problems in 2016. The former Reds, Force and Waratahs wing last featured for the Wallabies in a 23-17 win against South Africa in last year's Rugby Championship contest in Brisbane. He generally peaked for World Cups and ended up with 14 tries, just one short of the record shared by Jonah Lomu and South Africa's Bryan Habana.
DoR Fluxy, saluted the time and dedication of Mitchell at Leicester and hopes that he will stick around at the Club to pass on his knowledge and experience to the younger lads in the squad.

Leicester Tigers Progress to the Challenge Cup Final
Leicester Tigers director of rugby Fluxy said his side’s effort in victory over Exeter Chiefs was “unbelievable” as they won at Welford Road on Saturday.
Victory saw the Tigers progress into the Challenge Cup final as Sean Maitland crossing proved crucial against the Aviva Premiership Rivals.
“The effort out there was unbelievable,” Fluxy said after the win.
“I’m delighted for everyone at the club and at long last we got a bit of luck and turned one of those tight games our way. So much of what we planned today came off. The first 40 and 50 minutes were great but then the last 30 minutes were about guts, determination and character.
“To defend the way they did against what is a hugely physical team, talking to a couple of players it was one of the hardest games they have played in. I’m absolutely thrilled for everyone at the club to have won and reached a European final.”
“So many times we’ve talked about the small margins and we’ve talked about the small things not going in your favour and it’s almost felt like we’ve been making some excuses.
“Tonight we’ve got a lot of what we tried to do right and we had that bit that you can’t coach, we showed the spirit and the determination and the bench that came on closed the game out.”
"I would like to finally offer my thoughts to the Exeter Chiefs boys and Nick. He has done an excellent job down in Devon since I left there, and has shown how far he has brought those boys today with a physical and demanding presence, that required us to be at our absolute best."

Leicester Tigers end champions Sale Sharks' unbeaten streak with a gutsy victory at Welford Road.

Tries from Mikheil Nariashvili, Stephen Moore and Max Lahiff helped the home side into a 21 - 12 lead by half-time. Sale clawed themselves back with a Quade Cooper try immediately after the break before a Bernard Foley penalty further reduced the deficit. Tigers had lock Samu Manoa sin-binned late on but held on to ensure a memorable win on home turf.

Director of Rugby - Flux, had this to say following the game:
"The whole performance, both when we had the ball and when they had the ball, was tremendous.
You know the level at which you've got to play to down the European and Domestic champions.
What we've got to do is try to follow that through and realise that those are the levels we've got to be at if we want to aspire and be at the top table."

"The whole all-round performance was exceptional. Twenty-three players got on and it was a 23-man effort on the field and many more off-field as well. I was really delighted with it."

Exeter Chiefs sneak last Champions Cup Spot

A late try from hooker Dane Coles, converted by Greg Laidlaw, saw Exeter Chiefs prevail at Kingsholm to gain a vital win which propelled them back above Leicester Tigers in to 6th place, gaining them automatic qualification for next seasons Champions Cup. The game swung back and forth with Gloucester attacking from everywhere with nothing to play for. Courtney Lawes had driven over from a powerful rolling maul early on and Marcell Coetzee finished off a great team move just after half time. The decisive try came after good work from Camille Lopez and Damian Penaud, who offloaded to Coles to dot down.

End of Season awards

Managers player of the season - Greg Laidlaw
Players player of the season - Courtney Lawes
Young player of the season - Alex Lozowski

Leicester Tigers Triumph in Challenge Cup Final!

Leicester Tigers captain Don Armand is bursting with pride after his team were crowned European Rugby Challenge Cup winners. Armand who also won the man-of-the-match award as his side secured a 28-26 victory over Worcester Warriors at Murrayfield.

Armand chipped in with a crucial try before the half-time break and showed great leadership throughout.
The Iconic Italian number eight told EPC Rugby: “There is a lot of pride. The first thing that comes to my mind is how proud I am of the team. “We really wanted to show our solidarity as a group and that we deserved something from this season.

“We wanted to win the title. We may not have played our best game of the season, but we were still good.”

Worcester went into an early 10-point lead through an early Jarrad Payne salvo, but an Armand fivepointer levelled things just before the sides went into the break.

Tigers took more chances after the break and were rewarded with second half with tries from Centre Kurtley Beale and Number 8 JMF Lobbe. Matt Todd scored a late try for the Warriors, to make the final few minutes tense for the travelling Tigers fans, however their side dug in and held on for the glory at the final whistle.

Director of Rugby Fluxy was ecstatic and amid the celebration had this to say:
“Right now we just want to celebrate this together. We deserve it,”
“I am proud of the players, as they have started a new chapter in our history. We will enjoy this title, and look towards building on it for next season. ”

Exeter Chiefs announce summer dealings

The Exeter Chiefs have bolstered their squad for the upcoming season with the signing of Clermont's powerful international centre Remi Lamerat. Joining Lamerat is English openside flanker Steffon Armitage and South African scrum half Ruan Pienaar, who both join from Harlequins, along with Irish utility back Jared Payne.

Confirmed In's
Remi Lamerat
Steffon Armitage
Ruan Pienaar
Jared Payne

Confirmed Out's
Jack Yeandle
Otere Black
Charles Ollivon
Brian Mujati
Colin Slade
Francis Saili
Andrew Trimble