LONG READ Paul Brown-Bampoe: Exeter's box-office banker turned try machine

Exeter’s stirring comeback to earn a draw at Northampton almost inevitably featured fireworks from England wing Manny Feyi-Waboso. When he is fit, that is what he does.

But there was another Chiefs wing whose power and pace was equally eye-catching on the opening weekend of the Prem.

Paul Brown-Bampoe is the less widely known of the dangerous double barrels but he is making his own ripples. Together, the lethal duo sparked Exeter’s resurgence. They ran for a combined 236m, broke 16 tackles, made eight line-breaks and scored three tries as the Chiefs came close to an improbable triumph.

Paul Brown-Bampoe has his dancing shoes on today! 🕺

Some dazzling footwork leaves Saints defenders in the dust.

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/E49Q5pJOqz

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) September 28, 2025

Brown-Bampoe’s progress has not gone unnoticed. Three weeks ago, Steve Borthwick and Phil Morrow, England’s head of team performance, travelled down to the southwest to introduce themselves.

Croydon-born Brown-Bampoe’s impact is all the more remarkable given the 23-year-old is only in his second season of pro rugby and never even considered it as a potential career.

“The summer before I got picked up by Chiefs, I was interning at an investment bank so that’s probably what I would have done. It would have been a different life, that’s for sure,” he said.

“At the moment, I’m one year into this career so I have a long way to go development-wise but I’m trying to be a sponge.

“I have set myself a target of achieving something specific this season but that is staying in my head.

“It is really about team first because the way to make individuals flourish is if the team is playing well and you’re winning. That’s how I think about it.”

Playing in this country, your ceiling is to play for England or the Lions. I think he’s certainly got the right attributes that make that a possibility for him.

And yet Brown-Bampoe still flourished in one of the most challenging of debut seasons despite Exeter’s struggles. He managed 21 tries in 23 appearances in all competitions and was the club’s leading try scorer.

Seven of those might have come in two games against the Cornish Pirates in the Premiership Rugby Cup but he proved he could score against anyone. Ask Bordeaux. He went over twice against the European champions at Sandy Park, the first of them a length-of-the-field individual showstopper.

One game into the new Prem season and he is already off and running in the league, scoring the try which kick-started the second-half fightback from 33-7 down at Franklin’s Gardens.

At 6ft 3in, 15st 6lbs and with serious speed off the mark, he has been branded a physical “freak” by teammate Henry Slade but what impresses Rob Baxter is the work ethic within. All the while he was navigating his debut Premiership season, he was also completing his Masters in Finance and Investment. It was an impressive balancing act.

So soon into his sporting career, some rough edges inevitability remain but Exeter’s director of rugby is enjoying polishing his diamond.

“He’s still played relatively little rugby. It’s not that long ago we brought him in on a trial period from Durham University. If you think how his game’s advanced and how quickly he’s playing in big Premiership games, in European games and some of the things he’s achieved – it’s quite incredible what he’s managed to do,” said Baxter.

“He has to take a great deal of credit for that. He’s worked exceptionally hard, he’s very diligent in what he does and how he prepares. He’s a constant trainer, he’s on the field all the time, learning and taking in information and trying to improve.

“He’s driving his career fantastically well. He has elements of his game that he’s just got to keep diligently working on but he is a guy who you know will do it. Those improvements will happen soon enough.

“He’s one of those guys that I really hope goes on and achieves everything he wants in the game because he’s got the attitude that merits it.

Certain laws have made it more difficult to play that attritional style of rugby that Chiefs were known for but I think we’ve fully embraced, and adapted to, a fast, dynamic game now.

“Playing in this country, your ceiling is to play for England or the Lions. I think he’s certainly got the right attributes that make that a possibility for him.

“I’d love to think we will play in a way this season that will create more opportunities for him than he had last season and if we can do that, that’s when things become very interesting for him.

“Us being a team that is higher up the league, looking more competitive in everything we do and winning more games can only help players’ international ambitions as well. They have to.

“We have benefited from that in the past and he is one of those guys we really want to benefit from it in the future.”

Last season Exeter were frankly awful, saved only from the ignominy of bottom spot by the sad plight of a forlorn Newcastle. The nadir was the 79-17 demolition by Gloucester which led to the axe falling on long-serving coaches Ali Hepher and Rob Hunter. The Chiefs, who host the rebranded Red Bulls this weekend, already look a different proposition this season.

Brown-Bampoe goes so far as to claim Exeter are genuine play-off contenders.

“I actually do think we are,” he said. “Towards the end of last season we saw some slightly more positive performances and we’ve had an entire summer since to really reset and re-evaluate.

“We’ve really been pushed to our limits – they’ve worked us really hard – so I have no doubt that our preparation is going to lead to something really different this season.”

He is effusive about the influence of former England Under-20s attack coach Dave Walder who joined Exeter last May.

“Dave has brought a new life into our attack, progressing it forward, making it a really modern attack. I’ve loved learning from him,” he said.

“Certain laws have made it more difficult to play that attritional style of rugby that Chiefs were known for but I think we’ve fully embraced, and adapted to, a fast, dynamic game now. Which is why I’m loving it here.”

There are two significant additions yet to arrive with Wallabies Tom Hooper and Len Ikitau set to pitch up in Devon after the conclusion of the Rugby Championship.

The chance to play alongside Ikitau, the Brumbies centre, is one Brown-Bampoe cannot wait for.

“He’s a really aggressive ball carrier with a great set of hands on him. I’m just excited at the prospect of playing outside him and hopefully getting some balls from him,” he said.

He will be a big draw at Sandy Park this season. Feyi-Waboso as well. But keep an eye out for Brown-Bampoe too. The banker-turned-defence-shredder is box office.

“I can’t wait to run around, beat some defenders and hopefully score some more tries,” he said.