Chiefs Women sign experienced international hooker

Exeter Chiefs Women have signed experienced Welsh hooker Carys Phillips ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Having played in four Rugby World Cups, following her debut for Wales in 2013, Phillips will arrive at Sandy Park with 12 years of international experience but also plenty of games in the English domestic league too.

Phillips was the most capped player in Wales’s 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations squad with 87 tests to her name. She recently featured in Susie Appleby’s Barbarians team, following in the footsteps of her father Rowland – the first daughter-father combination to do so.

One of 12 players to be awarded a first professional contract from the Welsh Rugy Union, Phillips has spent the last three seasons with Harlequins. She has also played for Warriors Women.

Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach Oli Bishop said: “With the departure of Emily Tuttosi at the end of last season, Carys will bring that same kind of experience to our squad. She is also very familiar with our league from her time with Quins…and we’ve heard she is a bit of a joker, so I think she will fit right in!”

Phillips, who was born in Warrington and is a keen coffee art connoisseur, said: “I’m looking forward to joining Chiefs and this exciting group of players this season. I really want to enjoy my rugby and feel like Exeter will allow me to do that alongside continuing to develop me as a player. I can’t wait to get started.”