Exeter to bid for Premier 15s franchise

Exeter have confirmed that they will bid for a Premier 15s franchise and create a women’s team.

The 2017 champions are one of six Premiership clubs who currently do not have a women’s top tier side.

EDITORS PICKS:

• The 10 most hated people in rugby
• The best players whose contracts expire in 2019
• The most bizarre rugby pitch invasions of all-time
• Five radical ways to improve the Six Nations

“We’ve started to add the ladies into our academy,” Exeter chief executive Tony Rowe revealed to BBC Sport.

“So it follows now that in a year or two’s time when the new licenses come out for the Premier 15s that we will apply for a licence to be one of the professional sides in England.”