Tyler Bayley

At just 19, Tyler Bayley represents the next wave of talent emerging at Exeter Chiefs. Born in August 2006, the young flanker is one of the academy's promising back-row prospects, a player whose game is defined by energy, a high work rate and a willingness to throw himself into the breakdown. Bayley offers the aggressive defensive presence and appetite for the contact area that the openside and blindside roles reward, the raw ingredients clubs look to mould into a senior forward. At this early point his story is about development — earning trust, adding physical maturity and converting youthful promise into consistent senior performance. As with any teenager breaking through, his progress will come through training-ground graft and the gradual accumulation of experience rather than finished achievement. For Exeter, Bayley is an exciting prospect from the academy pathway, a hungry young flanker with the attributes and the platform to keep pushing his case in a competitive back row.