EXETER Chiefs newcomer Bachuki Tchumbadze admits he cannot wait to get stuck into life with his new club having signed a deal ahead of the new 2025/26 season.

The 23-year-old prop arrives at Sandy Park set for his first taste of action outside of his native Georgia.

Born in Tbilisi in 2001, Tchumbaze made his Test debut earlier this year when he featured for his country in their 40-7 Rugby Europe Championship victory over the Netherlands.

At club level, the talented tight-head has been a part of the Black Lions set-up since starting his professional career, featuring in both the European Challenge Cup, as well as the Rugby Europe Super Cup.

Tchumbaze becomes the second Georgian to feature for the Chiefs – following in the footsteps of fellow forward Niko Abuladze, who made 13 appearances for the club during the 2023/24 season.

“I really enjoy English rugby and I’m truly honoured to have the opportunity to be a key part of the Exeter Chiefs,” he said. “I’m well aware of the crucial role that forwards play in the team’s system and I’m really looking forward to making my debut in the Premiership.”

Keen to bolster his front-row options, particularly in the wake of Marcus Street moving to Saracens and Ehren Painter still working his way back to full fitness after a serious knee injury, Chiefs’ Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, is looking forward to seeing what his latest signing will bring to the mix.

“We’re delighted to have Bachuki’s deal signed,” he said. “He’s a young prop who has broken onto the international scene recently. Interestingly, Ross McMillan has been tracking his career since he played U19s for Georgia, keeping a close eye on his progress with the Black Lions and the national team.

“We’ve had to add to our tight-head stock and Bachuki coming in is going to give real competition to Josh Iosefa-Scott and Jimmy Roots in our senior group. He’s one of those guys who shows an awful lot of promise for a young man. He’s dynamic in the loose, very effective in the tight, so I think he will really thrive working with Ross.

“We’d really love to see him thrive here and become a very important player for us. He’s one of those young men where is the sky is the limit on what he can achieve, so we’ve just got to give him the platform to work really hard.”