Dave Ewers, a long-serving forward for the Exeter Chiefs, has announced he will be leaving the Gallagher Premiership club at the end of the current season to join Ulster Rugby of the United Rugby Championship.
Ewers has played 226 games and scored 38 tries for the Chiefs, helping them win the LV= Cup in 2014, two Premiership Rugby titles, and a Heineken Champions Cup crown.
He is the third confirmed departure at the end of the season, following Luke Cowan-Dickie and Sam Simmonds, who will be joining French Top 14 outfit Montpellier.
Ewers said he is “gutted” to be leaving the Chiefs but is excited for the new chapter in his career with Ulster.
“I feel like I can still have such an effect in an England shirt, such an effect in an Exeter Chiefs shirt for the next 12 months now, and I think I’m at peace with that decision.
“There’s plenty of players that are going to be coming up behind me and I felt that it was the right time to make a decision for after the World Cup to pursue a new life in France, and for my family and for me to experience that because I have loved my time at Exeter, but I haven’t experienced anything outside of Devon,” he added.
“I feel it was the right decision at the right time and we’ll see how it goes.
“We’ve seen what’s happened recently with clubs unfortunately in England, so it’s a decision I’ve thought about a lot, but ultimately felt like I needed to make that decision.”
#2. Luke Cowan-Dickie
According to the Mail Online, he’s signed a massive contract post 2023 Rugby World Cup, where he will earn more than £300k *post tax* per year with Montpellier.
“Playing for England is the pinnacle of your career, so it’s tough to leave that behind,” Cowan-Dickie told the Chiefs website.
“We’ve got the Six Nations coming up, then the World Cup, and I want to be involved in both.”
Cowan-Dickie has spent more than a decade at Sandy Park making 163 appearances, scoring 36 tries and winning the European Champions Cup in 2020 and two English Premiership titles.
“It’s gutting to be leaving,” he said.
“I’ve been at the Chiefs for 12 years and it’s all I’ve known. That said, this opportunity came up and it was one that I had to think long and hard about.”
