Baxter makes a signing ahead of next season

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has made his first signing for next season with the capture of Welsh international Tom James from the Cardiff Blues.

The 25-year-old winger, who has agreed a two-year deal with the Aviva Premiership club, joins the Chiefs after a successful seven-year stint with the Welsh region.

Capped ten times by his country, James was on the score sheet when the Blues defeated Gloucester 50-12 in 2008 to lift the EDF Energy Cup, and he was also part of Cardiff’s Amlin Challenge Cup winning squad of 2010.

With 39 tries in 114 appearances for the Blues, Baxter believes his new recruit will help offer additional firepower to his attacking arsenal for next season.

“Obviously we are delighted to have got Tom on board,” said Baxter. “Each year what you have to try and do is progress and move forward as a squad. We’ve had a good look at Tom over a period of time and for us it’s difficult to ignore proven try-scorers, who have got a very good ability to break the gain line.

“One of Tom’s biggest attributes is his ability to beat that first tackle from almost any scenario and I think that is the biggest qualities you need when you come up against big, strong defences.

“He is a very professional trainer, he’s in exceptionally good physical nick; he’s incredibly quick and, as I said, he has a great ability to beat the first defence and those are key attributes for us.”

James, who joined the Blues in 2006 from Merthyr RFC, wasted little time in making an impression at his new club as he scored a try on his first-team debut against Edinburgh.

Since then, the hard-running winger has represented Wales not only at full international level, but also at Sevens and Under-20s standard.

And Baxter believes a willingness to work hard, both in training and in matches, will help re-ignite the player in his bid to add to his current tally of international caps.

He added: “Having met Tom what I liked about him from the outset was that he was keen to challenge himself in a new environment.  He wants a different challenge to the Rabodirect Pro12, a competition he has done very well for Cardiff in for a number of years, and for us it’s a good match-up.

“He’s a guy who is still relatively young and still developing as a player, but he acknowledges there are areas of his game that he can add to and he wants the challenge of attacking the Premiership and hopefully the Heineken Cup with us.

“Adding pace and someone who can break the gain line like he does is something we are keen to add. At the moment we have some very good wing options here, but we feel this is one of those recruitment options that will only improve the squad further.

 “From talking to Tom you could see he is ambitious and that includes trying to play at the highest level. Obviously he has played for Wales in the past and I am sure he will want to do that again in the future.

“We’ve made no secret of the fact that we want all of our players to be ambitious. We want them to be striving to play international rugby, not just for England, but for all the home nations.

“For the club, it’s fantastic to see Craig Mitchell back for Wales and it’s unfortunate TJ has picked up his injury and misses out with England. However, we are desperate to force through even more of our players into these international squads.”

The arrival of James to Sandy Park may signal the first of Baxter’s recruitment plans for next term, but the Exeter leader insists there will not be a plethora of new faces coming to Devon.

“We won’t want to add too many new faces,” said Baxter. “We’ve got a good academy group coming through at the moment and I think the guy that has stood out in the last couple of months has been Jack Nowell.  When you look at him you say ‘what has he added to the squad?’

“Well, what Jack has added is that ability to break the gain line and you can see the difference that makes. Those are the kinds of backs we are looking to work with and alongside those attributes Tom has also got very good pace.

“He has played in Cup Finals, internationals and the Rabodirect for a number of years, yet we still feel he is a guy who has the mental capabilities to keep improving and developing. As I said, we are looking forward to working with him and seeing what he can bring to the team.”