Exmouth RFC have signed former Harlequins, England Under 20's and Exeter Chiefs scrum half Richard Bolt for their forthcoming season in National Two (South).

It is a remarkable coup for the newly promoted side and a sign of intent as Bolt becomes the forth new signing in the off season. The signing has come around in somewhat fortunate circumstances as described by head coach Jon Hill:

'We had not been in the market for a player of Richard's quality, as we have Garry Hooper, who is still of outstanding ability and gives us great experience. However, I was alerted to his availability by his agent, Crispin Reed, for whom I know well from my time at Launceston. It appears that Richard had decided to move back to the South West from his current base in London, where he has been playing regularly for London Scottish, and had hoped to secure a Championship contract. Unfortunately for Richard, there were some complications, and he has become available.

'Richard is coming to us as he has committed to living in Woodbury, just outside Exmouth, and of course he knows a lot of our players from his time at Exeter College. He was in the same side that Ross Morshead captained at Twickenham when the College won the Daily Mail Cup in 2005, and is well known to the likes of Tom Elliott, Matt Garner etc.

'Having the ability to utilise the strengths of Richard and Garry in such an important and influential position on the pitch is a clear position of strength for us. We also have the versatile Matt Garner who can play 9, as well as centre, and anywhere in the back three, as well as Colts player of the year Lloyd Watkins, who can certainly benefit from the experience of others in his development.

'Bolty comes to us with prior knowledge of many of our players, an understanding of what we are trying to achieve here, and a desire to play regular rugby, which makes him a highly attractive proposition. He has been a full time professional for 8 years, and will bring knowledge that we will want to tap into.

'With all of our pre season games finalised, and six other new signings to announce in the coming weeks, we feel we are pretty much there in our preparations. We are also about to announce six players who are moving on for a variety of reasons, which is why we have needed to boost the playing ranks. That said, however, the vast majority of the core of the side who have been at the club for at least the last three years, have all committed to playing next season, which provides a lot of continuity, mixed in with some key quality signings to make the next step up in League Rugby."

Ends

Regards

Jon