Exeter Chiefs

History of Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Rugby Club have officially been known as Exeter Chiefs since 1999. However, the Exeter rugby team's history dates all the way back to 1871.

It only took nine years for Exeter Rugby Club to win their first title, as the team clinched the Devon Cup in 1890. Ever since, they’ve been sporting trailblazers. 

In 1905, the Exeter rugby team hosted the first match played by the New Zealand national team on English soil. The match is actually one of the most iconic in rugby union history, because this was the fixture when New Zealand were first referred to as the 'All Blacks'.

During the professional era of rugby union, Exeter Rugby Club has been highly successful. The side won the National League 2 South in 1996 and National League 1 in 1997. Since the rebrand in 1999, the Exeter Chiefs rugby team has won the RFU Championship and the Premiership Rugby title twice (2017 and 2020). Added to this, the team also clinched the European Rugby Champions Cup in 2020. When they won the Premiership Rugby title for the first time in 2017, they became the first (and to this day only) club to win the top four tiers of English rugby. 

Thanks to the team’s recent successes, a number of stars have represented the Exeter Chiefs rugby team. This includes Stuart Hogg, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell, who all toured with the Lions while representing Exeter Chiefs. 

Over the past decade, the Exeter Chiefs have regularly made the knockout stages of the Premiership and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Their next piece of silverware feels like it’s just around the corner.