Date of Open Top Bus Tour confirmed

Victorious Exeter Chiefs will parade the LV= Cup through Exeter city centre on Saturday, 5 April, the City Council has announced.

Rob Baxter's all-conquering team, together with staff and officials from the club, will travel from St James Park on an open-top double-decker bus.

The bus, provided by Stagecoach, will leave St James Park at 2.30pm, travelling down Sidwell Street and into the High Street, before arriving at the Guildhall at 3pm for a Civic Reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of Exeter, Cllr Rachel Lyons.

Crowds are expected to line the route in a similar fashion to that of 2010 when the Chiefs celebrated their promotion into the Aviva Premiership.

Cllr Lyons said: "I am delighted for Exeter Chiefs that they have firmly established themselves as a power in English rugby by winning the LV= Cup on home soil at Sandy Park. My heartfelt congratulations go out to all the players and back room staff who have done so much to get the team to where it is now.

"This is a day when all involved in the Club, and the City, can be extremely proud to be associated with Exeter. I look forward to hosting all involved in civic reception at the Guildhall on the afternoon of the 5th April.”

Tony Rowe OBE, Chairman and Chief Executive of Exeter Rugby Club, added: "Four years ago we celebrated a famous day in the club's history when we were promoted into the Premiership for the first time. Now, we're doing it all over again with our first major silverware since getting into the top flight.

"Not only is this a fantastic achievement for the club, but also the city and the region as a whole. With the World Cup coming to Sandy Park next year as well, these are indeed fantastic times for Exeter and we look forward to celebrating with the public on 5 April ."

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The official open top bus tour to celebrate the Chiefs’ first major trophy win in the club’s 143 year history is hoped to take place on Saturday 5 of April.

The tour is expected to travel through Exeter's High Street and will give fans a chance to see first hand the winning team.

However the date of the tour has yet to be confirmed and will depend on the results of a meeting between Exeter city council and Devon and Cornwall police later today.

The date is expected to be be officially confirmed tomorrow morning.

The news will no doubt be welcomed by fans from across the City looking to celebrate the chief’s sensational 15-8 victory against the Northampton Saints at a packed Sandy Park last Sunday.

“What really pleases me is the players getting a tangible reward for all the hard work that they have put in,” said Head Coach, Rob Baxter.

“I say that because they have worked extremely hard this season and it hasn’t always felt like we had a reward for all the hard work that we have put in.

“We have had some tough results against some very good sides in both the Heineken Cup and the Premiership and we’ve had some late losses and had one or two things not quite go our way. But then what happens? The last two weeks we’ve come through two very tight games and today we are LV= Cup winners, which is fantastic.”

Baxter now hopes to build on the success going into the rest of the season but has said there will be some time to celebrate.

Baxter said: “We’ll give the boys some time off over the next couple of days I think. They need to enjoy because when you work hard you have to enjoy the good moments, which they’re having now.”

Heaps of praise have been coming in from all across Exeter keen to add their congratulations to the

Exeter’s MP Ben Bradshaw tweeted: “Massive congrats ExeterChiefs on historic LV Cup Final win. Fantastic for Exeter, Devon & whole region, [a] year before we host Rugby World Cup.”

The band, Coldplay also added to the congratulations tweeting: "Congratulations to Exeter Chiefs on winning LV= final. Proud day for Devon" the tweet was signed by lead singer Chris Martin and  band manager Phil Harvey.

Pictures: Exeter Rugby Club/Pinnacle Photo Agency and onEdition