Welsh hooker Iestyn Harris is set to be handed his Gallagher Premiership debut this weekend - just two months after leaving Cardiff.
The 23-year-old departed the Arms Park back in April after Rob Baxter moved to sign the Wales U20s hooker. Before his move to Sandy Park, Harris had made a name for himself as one of the young players brought into the squad to face Toulouse while senior players were stuck in quarantine.
That was one of three senior appearances for the region, who also featured for the Cardiff RFC Premiership team on 14 occasions. However, with his contract up at the end of the season and no deal on the table, he was released early to link up with Exeter.
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He arrived already rehabilitating from a shoulder injury, but has since overcome that. And, with little on the line ahead of their final match of the season against Harlequins, Baxter has thrown Harris onto the bench.
Speaking about Harris at the time of his arrival, Baxter admitted that there could be a chance for the Welsh hooker to establish himself before the end of the season with the absence of Lions Test hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie - albeit likely expecting it to be more than an 80-minute audition.
“We were looking to add a hooker to the senior squad for next season and Iestyn’s name was one of those we looked at," said the Exeter boss. "His agent sent me a few games of him playing, I had a good look at those, and I liked what I saw.
“After that, he came down to the club, we did his medical, we had a chat, and he came across very well. Talking with Iestyn, he just looks like of those guys who has an ambition, a dream, a drive, just to be the best player he can be. He’s played this season in the Champions Cup and he ticks a lot of the boxes I like to see in a young player.
“I’m grateful to Dai Young and Cardiff for releasing him early so that he can come down here and finish off the final bits of his rehab on his shoulder injury, as well as get integrated into what we do here at the club. With Luke Cowan-Dickie still sidelined and with Iestyn himself getting close to returning, there could be an opportunity for him to break into the first team before the end of the season.”
At the time, Harris added: “I am really excited about the move. Obviously, I was supposed to start here next season, but thanks to the club and Cardiff, I’m here now and I am really enjoying myself. Exeter is a fantastic club, full of quality players, and who are always challenging for honours and developing players. It’s a huge opportunity for me and I’m really looking forward to the future.
“I also want to thank everyone at Cardiff for all the time and effort they have put into me over the years. Without their support, I wouldn’t be where I am today, so I will always be grateful to them for giving me that chance.”
When Cardiff let him go, Director of Rugby Dai Young explained: “Iestyn leaves Cardiff with our thanks for all of his efforts at the Arms Park and our best wishes for the future. With three first team hookers currently contracted and the likes of Efan Daniel progressing well through our pathway, we are well stocked in the position and this is a good opportunity for Iestyn.”
Harris won't be the only Welsh involvement for Exeter, with young Welsh lock Dafydd Jenkins being handed a start against the defending champions. And speaking ahead of Saturday's game, Baxter spoke about what an opportunity this match could be for certain players.
"It's probably more important individually for some of the players, and probably more important for us to show what we're about in front of what potentially could be our biggest home crowd of the season.
"I'm not talking about it's necessarily vital to win the game, but I think it's really important for us to just be ourselves and really express ourselves and enjoy what we're doing.
"For a lot of guys this season has become a little bit of an emotional struggle as much as anything else, and I think there's reasons for that.
"There's not many players we've got in this squad who can remember being outside the top four, and that feels quite scary.
“If I take us back to that last season before we got into that first semi-final, we’ve got pictures of guys like Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie, all of whom look like young kids. For them, they were just getting their initial experiences in the Premiership around that time.
“This season, we’ve got guys in our squad who are in a similar position. People like Sam Maunder, Josh Hodge, Dafydd Jenkins, Pat Schickerling, they’ve all come through. Tom Hendrickson has had a lot more game time, as has Richard Capstick. Others would have had it not been for injuries, guys like Rus Tuima and Sean Lonsdale."
