To witness their romp to a third successive Champions Cup final it was not hard to see why Jack Nowell is poised to join La Rochelle next season. Ronan O’Gara has built a formidable side and they have an ardent support base to match. As the son of a Cornish fisherman it helps for Nowell, too, that La Rochelle are based on the Atlantic coast – “as much as I would love to be in Paris, I love the sea”.
Equally, there is a financial reality to Nowell’s move. The reduced Premiership salary cap, coupled with the fact that when Covid hit the Chiefs made the admirable decision not to enforce wage reductions – unlike other clubs – has had an undeniable impact. Throw in a golden generation of England internationals, whose value and therefore salaries grew as they established themselves as Test players, and it becomes clear why so many Exeter players are moving to pastures new.
In Nowell’s case, at La Rochelle he is expected to earn roughly double what Exeter could afford to offer him to stay. As much as it is a wrench for Nowell to leave a club he joined when he was 16, he is one of a host of English players who recognise the financial imperative to move abroad.
“Deciding to leave Chiefs was one of the hardest positions I have ever been in,” Nowell said. “But if I am honest, during the Covid times the club decided to look after us and our families and like we are seeing with every Premiership club there comes a time when wages do come into it. A lot of the other clubs got hit during Covid and for us as a club we are being hit now. I love everything about [the Chiefs] but I have got to look after my family.”
Nowell may yet run out for the Chiefs once more – if selected for the Premiership dead rubber against London Irish on Saturday – but in effect the curtain came down for Exeter’s golden generation in the comprehensive Champions Cup defeat by La Rochelle on Sunday. Nowell leaves with one European winners’ medal but at the same time an understanding that if he is to add to that he is making the right move.
“It is tough,” Nowell said. “Just look at the calibre of players La Rochelle had and how they are playing. It is tough at times but we’ve won trophies and we’ve got some unbelievable players in England as well. When we did it we didn’t realise how hard it was.
“At the start of my time with the club, getting into the Heineken Cup was hard enough. I don’t think we took it for granted how hard it was that year we won it – there was Covid but we had to beat the best teams in Europe to get ourselves there. It is an unbelievable competition but just how hard it is to get there – it is getting harder.”
So what ranks as the highlight of Nowell’s Chiefs career? “I can name two. For me, the Heineken Cup is special. We had no fans or family there but it was special for the boys. Obviously we won the Premiership title that year [2020] as well which was cool; it was awesome. But for me, my main memory is winning the Premiership for the first time [in 2017], when we did and the way that we did it. The belief we had in the team that year, some of the old boys were still playing as well and it went to extra time. That was the first proper trophy we’d won for the club and that’s a memory that I’ll never forget.
“I’ve obviously experienced England stuff but this is all I’ve known since the age of 16. It’s been unbelievable for me and my family. I came to Exeter at 16 as a young kid and I’ll be leaving with three children and a wife. It’s not been a bad 12 years.”
