Exeter has brought in Tom Hardwick, former fly-half for Leicester, to test the waters.
The 23-year old has been officially registered as a player by the last season’s Premiership finalists. He could play in the league or in the club’s Champions Cup tie against Munster.
Hardwick left Leicester a year agoHe is now a free agent after his contract with French club Alibi has ended.
Jack Walsh is expected to make the move to a Welsh team in the summer.
“We’ve looked at many options there, and we’re still looking for a lot more options, but we haven’t settled upon Tom,” stated Rob Baxter, Exeter director of rugby.
“Tom is only here on trial, but registrations for Premiership ends pretty soon when we brought him here. So we registered him with us in case he was offered a chance to play.
“The European second registration deadline just came up, so we thought we might as well get him signed up for Europe. He is now on trial.
Hardwick left Leicester in March 2021 abruptly, not having been featured since Steve Borthwick was appointed director of rugby in 2020.
Baxter said, “I amn’t going to sit here to go I don’t know there were some problems as he left Leicester. I was no different from anyone seeing headlines that every other would’ve seen.”
“So we want him to be assessed and see what he does. This is what it is. It’s an chance for him.
“I spoke with Tom and he seems to be settling in well. At first, we agreed to meet up for a couple weeks to check out how things are going. He was available for a conversation a few days ago.
“I said, “Let’s keep it open-ended. Let’s see what happens. We will take it day to day, week to week. He is well aware of it and understands the situation.