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Rob Baxter keeps lips sealed amid swirling rumours of new deal
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Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter says that reports that Wallabies back-row Tom Hooper has signed a one-year extension to his contract to stay at Sandy Park until 2028 are “not commentable.”
Hooper, 25, who says he had reached a ceiling playing in Australia, has made a major impact at Exeter since arriving earlier in the season. Despite a two-month layoff due to a knee injury, he has played 22 games, helping reach the Challenge Cup semi-final and a Prem final.
The former ACT Brumbies flanker told RugbyPass in March that he was open to extending his deal with the Chiefs even though he is only a little over six months into a two-year deal and started talks with the club soon afterwards.
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“It was that time where I’d kind of hit my ceiling in Australia. I needed a new challenge. But if I’m over here and I still feel like I’m being challenged as an athlete and as a person, and I’m still growing in those areas, then this is the best place for me.
“So if I see that this environment is indicative of that, then I’ll definitely be staying in Devon because that’s what’s best for me,” Hooper said earlier in the year.
It is now reported in Australia that, in a major boost before Saturday’s Gallagher Prem final against Northampton Saints at Twickenham, Hooper, who is set to link up with the Wallabies towards the end of next week, has agreed a new deal.
It is also a sign that the Chiefs are edging closer to a deal with Bill Foley’s Black Knight Entertainment after Baxter recently said more funds would be made available when the deal is done.
But when asked by RugbyPass during a media call on Thursday to comment on the reports, he strangely reacted by saying: “I can’t comment at this stage because it’s not commentable.”
