{"id":171273,"date":"2025-09-30T21:18:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/171273\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T21:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:18:15","slug":"exeters-box-office-banker-turned-try-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/171273\/","title":{"rendered":"Exeter’s box-office banker turned try machine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exeter\u2019s stirring comeback to earn a draw at Northampton<\/a> almost inevitably featured fireworks from England<\/a> wing Manny Feyi-Waboso. When he is fit, that is what he does.<\/p>\n

But there was another Chiefs<\/a> wing whose power and pace was equally eye-catching on the opening weekend of the Prem.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Paul Brown-Bampoe has his dancing shoes on today! \ud83d\udd7a<\/p>\n

Some dazzling footwork leaves Saints defenders in the dust.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa @tntsports<\/a> & @discoveryplusUK<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/E49Q5pJOqz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Brown-Bampoe\u2019s progress has not gone unnoticed. Three weeks ago, Steve Borthwick<\/a> and Phil Morrow, England\u2019s head of team performance, travelled down to the southwest to introduce themselves.<\/p>\n

Croydon-born Brown-Bampoe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe summer before I got picked up by Chiefs, I was interning at an investment bank so that\u2019s probably what I would have done. It would have been a different life, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, I\u2019m one year into this career so I have a long way to go development-wise but I\u2019m trying to be a sponge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have set myself a target of achieving something specific this season but that is staying in my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really about team first because the way to make individuals flourish is if the team is playing well and you\u2019re winning. That\u2019s how I think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing in this country, your ceiling is to play for England or the Lions. I think he\u2019s certainly got the right attributes that make that a possibility for him.<\/p>\n

And yet Brown-Bampoe still flourished in one of the most challenging of debut seasons despite Exeter\u2019s struggles. He managed 21 tries in 23 appearances in all competitions and was the club\u2019s leading try scorer.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Gardens.<\/p>\n

At 6ft 3in, 15st 6lbs and with serious speed off the mark, he has been branded a physical \u201cfreak\u201d by teammate Henry Slade<\/a> 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.\u00a0It was an impressive balancing act.<\/p>\n

So soon into his sporting career, some rough edges inevitability remain but Exeter\u2019s director of rugby is enjoying polishing his diamond.<\/p>\n

\"PaulBrown-Bampoe\u2019s dynamic attacking game has won plaudits from experienced England centre Henry Slade (Photo by Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still played relatively little rugby. It\u2019s not that long ago we brought him in on a trial period from Durham University. If you think how his game\u2019s advanced and how quickly he\u2019s playing in big Premiership games, in European games and some of the things he\u2019s achieved \u2013 it\u2019s quite incredible what he\u2019s managed to do,\u201d said Baxter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has to take a great deal of credit for that. He\u2019s worked exceptionally hard, he\u2019s very diligent in what he does and how he prepares. He\u2019s a constant trainer, he\u2019s on the field all the time, learning and taking in information and trying to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s driving his career fantastically well. He has elements of his game that he\u2019s just got to keep diligently working on but he is a guy who you know will do it. Those improvements will happen soon enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys that I really hope goes on and achieves everything he wants in the game because he\u2019s got the attitude that merits it.<\/p>\n

Certain laws have made it more difficult to play that attritional style of rugby that Chiefs were known for but I think we\u2019ve fully embraced, and adapted to, a fast, dynamic game now.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying in this country, your ceiling is to play for England or the Lions. I think he\u2019s certainly got the right attributes that make that a possibility for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d 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\u2019s when things become very interesting for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cUs being a team that is higher up the league, looking more competitive in everything we do and winning more games can only help players\u2019 international ambitions as well. They have to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have benefited from that in the past and he is one of those guys we really want to benefit from it in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a> which led to the axe falling on long-serving coaches Ali Hepher and Rob Hunter. The Chiefs, who host the rebranded Red Bulls<\/a> this weekend, already look a different proposition this season.<\/p>\n

Brown-Bampoe goes so far as to claim Exeter are genuine play-off contenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually do think we are,\u201d he said. \u201cTowards the end of last season we saw some slightly more positive performances and we\u2019ve had an entire summer since to really reset and re-evaluate.<\/p>\n

\"ExeterPaul Brown-Bampoe Rob Baxter\u201d width=\u201d1024\u2033 height=\u201d576\u2033 \/> Brown-Bampoe ran in 21 tries for Exeter in his debut season of elite level rugby (Photo by Harry Trump\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve really been pushed to our limits \u2013 they\u2019ve worked us really hard \u2013 so I have no doubt that our preparation is going to lead to something really different this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is effusive about the influence of former England Under-20s attack coach Dave Walder who joined Exeter last May.<\/p>\n

\u201cDave has brought a new life into our attack, progressing it forward, making it a really modern attack. I\u2019ve loved learning from him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertain laws have made it more difficult to play that attritional style of rugby that Chiefs were known for but I think we\u2019ve fully embraced, and adapted to, a fast, dynamic game now. Which is why I\u2019m loving it here.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are two significant additions yet to arrive with Wallabies Tom Hooper<\/a> and Len Ikitau<\/a> set to pitch up in Devon after the conclusion of the Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

The chance to play alongside Ikitau, the Brumbies<\/a> centre, is one Brown-Bampoe cannot wait for.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really aggressive ball carrier with a great set of hands on him. I\u2019m just excited at the prospect of playing outside him and hopefully getting some balls from him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to run around, beat some defenders and hopefully score some more tries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n