Jimmy Roots

Hard-edged and combative, Jimmy Roots is a New Zealand-born flanker plying his trade in the English Premiership with Exeter Chiefs. Born on 31 January 2000, the back-rower brings the physicality and breakdown focus associated with forwards schooled in New Zealand's competitive club and provincial scene. Roots builds his game on a high work rate, a strong presence in the tackle and a willingness to compete for turnovers, traits that suit the demands of the Premiership and the abrasive forward battles it produces. At Exeter, a club whose identity has long been founded on a powerful, well-drilled pack, he adds depth and energy to the back-row options, contributing the kind of defensive grit and contact-area effort that underpins the team's approach. As he continues to adapt to English rugby and push for more regular minutes, his value lies in reliability: the consistent tackling, support play and breakdown work that allow a pack to function. For a forward still establishing himself in a new environment, Roots offers exactly the sort of industrious, no-frills contribution that coaches lean on when squad depth and competition for places are tested across a long season.