Phillips joins Pirates on loan

Exeter Chiefs forward James Phillips has today joined Championship side Cornish Pirates on an initial one-month loan.

The 26-year-old is heading down to the Mennaye Field not only to gain value game time, but also help bolster the Pirates who have incurred a spate of injuries to their pack in recent weeks.

Since joining the Chiefs in 2010 from hometown club Bristol, Phillips has amassed 44 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring six tries in the process.

However, a number of unfortunate injuries and the form of others have meant his Sandy Park career has been somewhat ‘stop-start’ and has restricted the powerhouse forward from featuring more within the first team picture.

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter insists the loan deal works perfectly for all parties and expects Phillips to make a real impact with the Cornish club over the coming weeks. He said:

 "James had a broken season last year because of injury, but now that he’s up and running again it’s important he keeps himself fully fit and playing rugby."

“Obviously an opportunity at the Pirates has come about because of a few injuries they’ve had in recent weeks, so we feel it’s good that he goes down there; plays some regular rugby and get himself in a really good position to compete for a starting place up here.”

Phillips - who will team up with club-mates Kieran Davies and Joel Conlon at the Pirates - has featured just twice for the Chiefs this season, both times in the LV= Cup where he came off the bench against Harlequins, before starting and scoring against Bath a week later.