Brett Sturgess agrees terms on a one-year contract at Exeter

Exeter prop Brett Sturgess has agreed terms on a new one-year contract that will take him into his ninth season with the club.

The 31-year-old has been discussing the deal with Chiefs coach Rob Baxter for some time, and he is already looking forward to returning to Champions Cup action.

Sturgess arrived at Sandy Park in 2007 from Irish province Connacht, and has been a key figure in Exeter's rise into the Premiership.

"I'm really pleased to have signed for another year with the Chiefs,” Sturgess said.

“This year it's taken a bit longer than normal to sort things, simply because it was more about understanding the role I'm going to play moving forward, but having spoken with Rob and thought about things, it's great that I'm going to be taking my career into a ninth year here.

"Next year is going to be huge, not just because the Premiership is getting even more competitive, but because we're going to be back in the Champions Cup again.

“To be competing at the top level, clubs need to have a big, quality squad and that's what we are building here at the Chiefs.

"Each year we've been in the Premiership we have improved year on year – and it's been great to be part of the rise of the club.

"Personally, I'm chuffed to bits to be staying and so are my family. We've made a real life for ourselves down here in Exeter and the friends I've made since being with the club will last me a lifetime.

"As a player it's important to have that stable environment around you and it's been great that there are still a good number of us who have made that step up from the Championship together.

“We've been through a lot together over the years and it's going to be great to be part of it still moving forward.

"Being back in the Champions Cup is fantastic for the club. I think if you ask players, it's the next best thing to playing at international level.

“I've been fortunate to have played in the old Heineken Cup against the likes of Leinster, Toulon and Clermont and I know what that meant, not just to us as players, but to everyone at the club and the supporters.

"It will be great to be back playing against the top sides in Europe again and seeing Sandy Park packed out for those games.”