Young Welsh prop joins Exeter Chiefs Women

Exeter Chiefs Women have signed exciting young prop Maisie Davies from Bristol Bears.

The loosehead had moved to Bristol for the 2025/26 PWR season after an outstanding campaign for Gwalia Lightning in 2024/25 and being named MVP for Wales U20s’ Women’s Summer Series in 2024.

At just 20 years old, Davies has already racked up 17 caps for Wales and played in the Rugby World Cup last year.

Formerly a goal-kicking blindside flanker for Cardiff Metropolitan, Davies moved to the front row just months before she headed off for the Summer Series in Parma. She scored three tries in three matches to secure her berth in the front row.

Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach Oli Bishop said: “Maisie has incredible potential and at 20. She has so much room for growth. She is incredibly talented and also a great person, so I feel certain she will add so much to Chiefs this coming season.

“We now have three international looseheads in our squad which shows the talent and depth we are trying to build so we can hopefully kick on from a very decent season.”

Davies first picked up a rugby ball when she was six at Dunvant RFC in Swansea. She played with the boys for seven years, often captaining the U13s side, before switching to a girls’ team. Davies won a rugby scholarship to Llandovery College and played for them at Principality Stadium in the 2022 and 2023 Schools U18 Cup finals.

She co-captained the Scarlets U18s side, started for Wales U18s in their first international against England at Rugby School in 2023 and graduated into the ranks of Gwalia Lightning via the Six Nations U18s and U20s festivals.

Davies was called into the senior Wales squad for training in 2025 and won her first senior cap as a replacement against Scotland.

She will join USA Eagles most capped player Hope Rogers and new Scotland international Demi Swann to cover the loosehead prop position next season.

Davies said: “I’m really excited to be joining Exeter Chiefs. It felt like the right place for me to take the next step. I’m still young and know there’s plenty more for me to learn, so I’m looking forward to challenging myself in a new environment and seeing how much I can develop as a player.”