Second Georgian signing announced as Exeter boss admits change of focus

Exeter Chiefs have completed the signing of young Georgian international prop, Bachuki Tchumbadze, ahead of the 2025/26 season.

The 23-year-old front rower moves to Devon to play his club rugby outside of his native Georgia for the first time in his career, and will compete with Jimmy Roots and Josh Iosefa-Scott for the tight-head jersey.

Born in Tbilisi in 2001, Tchumbadze made his international debut for Georgia this year and has played in Europe for the Georgian franchise team, Black Lion.

“I really enjoy English rugby, and I’m truly honoured to have the opportunity to be a key part of the Exeter Chiefs,” Tchumbadze said.

“I’m well aware of the crucial role that forwards play in the team’s system, and I’m really looking forward to making my debut in the Premiership.”

He follows in the footsteps of loosehead prop Nika Abuladze, who was the first Georgian to play for Exeter Chiefs when he made 13 appearances during the 2023/24 season.

Director of Rugby Rob Baxter is pleased to have secured the signature of the promising youngster, who he hopes will help to contribute to the Chiefs’ drive to have a feared scrum again.

“We’re delighted to have Bachuki’s deal signed and already have him here training with us,” said Baxter.

“He’s a young prop who has broken onto the international scene recently, though, interestingly, (scrum coach) Ross McMillan has been tracking his career since he played U19 for Georgia, keeping a close eye on his progress with Black Lion and the national team.

“We’ve had to add to our tighthead stock with Marcus Street leaving and Ehren Painter still rehabbing a long-term injury. Bachuki comes in to give real competition to Jimmy Roots and Josh Iosefa-Scott in our senior group, while we’ve got some youngsters training with the squad too.

“He’s one of those guys who shows an awful lot of promise for a young man. He’s dynamic in the loose, very effective in the tight. I think he’ll really thrive working with Ross.

“We’re going to be focusing on our set piece this pre-season, especially around the scrum, so that will give him a lot of opportunities in live sessions.

“We’d really love to see him thrive here and become a very important player for us.

“He’s one of those young men where the sky is the limit on what he can achieve, so we’ve just got to give him the platform to work really hard and hopefully he can achieve something really special here.”