England Under-20s Head Coach joins Exeter Chiefs
Rob Hunter says he is excited about the challenge of coaching in the Aviva Premiership after he agreed to form part of Rob Baxter’s team at the Exeter Chiefs.
After three highly successful years as head coach of the England Under-20s side, Hunter will assume the role of assistant forwards coach at Sandy Park from the start of April.
A Northumbrian born and bred, Hunter is an RFU Level 4 coach and joins the Devon club with a proven track record within the game. Not only did he feature as a player for London Scottish and Northampton Saints, but he also represented both the Army and Combined Services.
As a coach, the 40-year-old initially cut his teeth with the Saints where he worked alongside current Chiefs backs coach Ali Hepher within the club’s Academy set-up, before then moving onto England where in the past two seasons he has overseen the Under-20s to successive Six Nations titles.
In his time as Under-20s coach, Hunter has been instrumental in helping forge the careers of some of England’s brightest young talent, including Joe Marler, Joe Launchbury, Owen Farrell, Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes; whilst more recently he has worked closely with Exeter’s very own young guns Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell, Sam Hill, Jack Arnott and Joel Conlon.
However, Hunter loves a challenge and as someone who has previously trekked to Everest base camp, cycled across Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the opportunity to test himself within the confines of English rugby’s top flight is something he is clearly relishing.
“It’s a massive honour for me to get this opportunity, especially at a club like Exeter” said Hunter. “They have had a great surge into the Premiership and established themselves amongst the best teams in the country. They have a great group of lads, several of whom I know well from working within the England Under-20s set-up.
“Not only do they have a great culture within, but the ambition of the club is huge. The club is looking to develop their ground and move forward on that front, but equally the coaches and players are hugely ambitious and they have assembled a quality squad.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Ali Hepher and it will be great to work with him again. Equally I am looking forward to working alongside and learning from the likes of Rob [Baxter], Ricky [Pellow], Robin [Cowling] and supporting the staff and players”
Although sad to be departing the international scene with England, Hunter said the time had come for him to take up a new challenge within the game.
He added: “I have had a fantastic time with England; working with some exceptional players and staff over the years, but now I want to test myself within the Premiership. Having that week in, week out challenge of working with a top quality group of lads against some of the best players and coaches in the world is an opportunity too good to miss.
“Like a lot of people I’ve seen Exeter really emerge as a premiership club over the last few years and now I’ve been given the opportunity to be part of that. If I could sum it up, I was watching the recent Clermont away game on TV, a tough day for the Chiefs. In the 78th minute I could hear the travelling supporters still chanting their song and see the players still throwing their bodies in. That’s the sort of club I want to be involved in.”
“The support the club receive is excellent and with all the future plans for the place, as well as the wealth of talent that is coming through the club currently, it really is an exciting move for myself and my family.”
One man delighted to have Hunter on board is Chiefs head coach Baxter, who said: “Obviously we are very pleased to have a coach of Rob’s quality come to the club. We have always got to be looking to develop and that doesn’t apply just to the squad, it also applies the off field squad. Rob Gibson has been doing a fantastic job for us for some time now, but he’s going to be more heavily involved with things at Bicton College and developing their rugby academy, so there was an opportunity for someone to come in and Rob fits that bill perfectly.
“He obviously knows Ali very well from their time together at Northampton and I suppose the biggest compliment I can give him is looking at the way Ali coaches and the things he has brought to the club, the fact Ali started his coaching career working with Rob at Northampton Academy, if they have the same work ethics and similar qualities of what they do, I think he is going to be a great addition to us.
“Having Rob come in will help the workload for sure, but it will also allow us to give more specific coaching to not only the younger guys coming through, but also to the more senior guys as well. I think it will not only broaden our strength within the coaching team, but at the same time I’m sure he will come with a few new ideas and make sure we are focused on doing what we need to do in terms of improving all of our players.”
Baxter also believes Hunter’s involvement will also help to ease some of the workload off his own shoulders as the Chiefs look to move forward.
He added: “Sometimes you need to be careful that things don’t become repetitive and people keep saying the same things to the same people, I’m very much aware that can happen sometimes and that’s why it’s good to freshen things up now and then. Also, this season has also shown – especially having so many contracts up for renewal – how much time can get taken up on those sorts of things, so it’s important that we maintain a strong focus on how we play and what we do out on the pitch.
“Having a strong coaching group, like we are assembling, will certainly help us do that.”
The RFU’s Head of Professional Coach Development, Kevin Bowring, added: “The RFU Professional Coach Development programme continues to add value to coaches and it is good to see another coach gain from his experience with the RFU and be offered an opportunity with a top Aviva Premiership club.
“Exeter Chiefs seem to be building success in a planned and focused way and Rob will, I am sure, contribute to the future success of the club. We thank him for his valuable contribution to our National Academy programme and wish him all the very best of luck at Exeter.”
Photo: Exeter Rugby Club / Pinnacle Photo Agency
