FORMER Bude RFC youngster Alfie Johns has signed his first senior academy deal with Gallagher Premiership giants Exeter Chiefs.

The 18-year-old has been on the academy books at Sandy Park, as well as at Exeter College, but has now been rewarded for his fine form last season which saw him earn a call-up to the England Under-20s set-up.

Johns also put in a man-of-the-match performance in the recent clash against the Royal Navy, and also impressed against home county Cornwall in the friendly between the two in May.

He is one of ten to get a contract, seven of which are forwards.

Chiefs’ Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, said: “It’s great to have such a strong group of young lads who we think are showing the right qualities to earn senior contracts. A couple of them will be apprentices, while others will be part-time student contracts in partnership with our base at the University of Exeter or at Exeter College, we’ve got a number of pathway directions they can utilise.

“They’ve all got a great opportunity to progress their game in the next couple of years as they start to enter the senior training environment. We’ll put in a lot of hard work with them but largely, how well they do and how far they go in the game will be down to them and the characteristics they show.

“I think Ali Hepher has done really well in preparing them for that scenario. Over the next couple of years, we’ll be expecting a lot from this group and hopefully, we’ll see them pulling on a senior shirt in the future.”

Chiefs’ Academy confirmation coach, Ali Hepher, added: “All of these boys are individual in their characters, which is what we want at the club, but equally as a group, they are very driven and motivated to improve as players.

“They’ve always worked hard together, had each other’s backs and got behind each other so that when they’re in difficult situations on a field, they’ve been able to work their way out of them.

“It’s an exciting group but it’s very much down to them now. It’s kind of the easy bit to get to this stage, so now the hard work starts. Hopefully, they prepare really well over the off-season and come back into training ready to improve day-on-day because that’s going to be the secret to their success in the future.”

The group of players will take part in pre-season for the 2026/27 campaign with Chiefs, giving them their first exposure to the senior environment throughout the summer.

The full list is as follows: Charlie Bosanko – centre; Josh Bratt – tighthead-prop; Morgan Crew – back-row; Troy Jackson – wing; Alfie Johns – back-row; Will Lane – fly-half; Oisin Smith – back-row; Benjamin Smith – tighthead-prop; Mawgan Talling – loosehead-prop; Harry Westlake – back-row.