Exeter Chiefs left counting the cost of their Gallagher Prem Final defeat

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter expects captain Dafydd Jenkins to be fit for the start of next season after announcing that a shoulder injury will force him to miss Wales’ inaugural Nations Championship campaign.

It has been revealed that the Chiefs lock, who scored a try and was sin-binned, sustained a shoulder injury during the Gallagher PREM Final against Northampton Saints at Twickenham 10 days ago, when he was replaced by Ross Vintcent.

And Jenkins, who was an ever-present for Steve Tandy during the Six Nations campaign, will undergo surgery on the injury, which will force him to miss the three games against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa.

Tandy has left him out of his 33-man squad, which does include his Chiefs team-mate back rower Kane James, who, along with Ospreys tight-head prop Ben Warren, are the two uncapped players in the squad.

Two years ago, Jenkins missed the start of the 2024-2025 campaign after undergoing double surgery to fix his knee and a sore shoulder rotator cuff sustained on international duty with Wales in Australia, which saw him sidelined almost until Christmas that year

“Daf is having a shoulder operation and will miss the Wales summer internationals while rehabbing. However, he is expected to be fit for the around the start of the new Gallagher PREM season,” said Baxter.

The Chiefs, who are poised to formally announce that they have been taken over by AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley’s Black Knight Entertainment group in a £45 million deal, are still counting the cost of their Twickenham defeat to Saints.

It has been revealed that hooker Max Norey, who started the last seven games of the campaign, suffered a torn calf after only eight minutes of the final but will also be back for the start of the 2026/27 season later this year, according to Baxter.