Jack Nowell has named his Final Exeter XV almost 4 weeks after bringing the curtain down on his stellar 12-year profession enjoying in Rob Baxter’s first crew. It was 2011/12 when the now 30-year-old debuted and he featured within the Chiefs’ April 30 Heineken Champions Cup exit to La Rochelle, the French membership that he’s set to affix for the 2023/24 season.
He’ll now log out at Sandy Park with a sevens occasion on June 3, a match with fairly a distinction as Nowell and Henry Slade, with whom he’s sharing a testimonial, have crafted a collection of intriguing attack-minded regulation tweaks for the eight-team competitors organised by Purple Bull.
Nowell earlier this week revealed that he won’t hyperlink up with the England coaching squad to problem for a spot in Steve Borthwick’s Rugby World Cup squad, explaining as a substitute that his precedence shall be to get his household moved to France in the summertime in order that they’re settled by the point the brand new High 14 season begins.
In the meantime, he has given an exclusive interview to RugbyPass that will be published this Sunday, a bubbly chat over Zoom from his sunny back garden that wrapped up with Nowell being asked to name his Ultimate Exeter XV.
It’s the sort of question that can take players ages to answer but Nowell rattled off his XV in just over a minute and his choices illustrated the calibre of people that have represented Exeter on their remarkable journey from the 2010 Championship title to clinching a Gallagher Premiership/Champions Cup double in 2020.
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— Jack Nowell (@nowellsy15) May 16, 2023
“Off the top of my head? I’ll probably miss out on a few boys doing it off the top my head,” he pleaded with a chuckle before getting stuck into naming his selection of all-time Exeter greats. “I’ll leave myself out for this one. I’m going to go number one Alec Hepburn, two Cowan-Dickie, three Hoani Tui. Second rows, I’ll have to go Damian Welch. No, I’ll go Dean Mumm, Geoff Parling. Back row, I’ll go Sam Simmonds, Thomas Waldrom and Dave Ewers all in there.
“Scrum-half Nic White. Fly-half Gareth Steenson. Twelve Jason Shoemark. Thirteen, see I have got to have Sladey [Slade] in there. I’d have 12 Sladey, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki. Eleven? Nenani Nadolo, 15, Phil Dollman and 14 Matt Jess or Santiago Carreras.”
Decide one, Jack? “I can’t… Okay, Matt Jess, he’s a legend.” Positive is.
Jack Nowell’s Final Exeter XV: 15. Phil Dollman; 14. Matt Jess, 13. Sireli Naqelevuki, 12. Henry Slade, 11. Nemani Nadolo; 10. Gareth Steenson, 9. Nic White; 1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Hoani Tui, 4. Dean Mumm, 5. Geoff Parling, 6. Thomas Waldrom, 7. Dave Ewers, 8. Sam Simmonds.
- Click on right here to buy Purple Bull Elevate tickets for the June 3 Nowell/Slade occasion