Youngsters to go on loan to Pirates

A quartet of aspiring Chiefs players will spend the 2025/26 season on loan to RFU Championship side, Cornish Pirates.

Hooker Sol Moody, back-rower Jack Forsythe, fly-half Louie Sinclair and second-row Alfie Bell will all look to be regular fixtures amongst the squad based at Mennaye Field.

The stadium in Penzance is a tried and tested development ground for future Chiefs with one of the most recent success stories being first-team regular Tommy Wyatt while double-winners Stu Townsend and Sam Simmonds both spent time on loan to Pirates.

“It’s great to see that our fantastic relationship with Pirates is continuing with this latest group of youngsters going down to the Mennaye on our loan system,” Chiefs director of rugby, Rob Baxter, said.

“This process has been fantastic for us in the past and has always improved the talents of the players that have gone down there. Particularly towards the end of last season, we saw a huge development in Sol. Alfie and Jack also went down part way through the campaign – they had some really good games after they’d had some involvement there.

“It’s now a fantastic opportunity for Louie to be playing Championship rugby after his time with Taunton Titans.

“We see this as a huge development process for these four players. We know they’ll be well coached and well looked after there. They’ll play some really challenging rugby in a different environment.

“We’re delighted to be able to give them that chance and probably before the end of the season, we’ll see some more players going down to Pirates to gain some valuable experience.”

The players will join up with Gavin Cattle and Alan Paver’s side effective immediately and complete the remainder of their pre-season training with the Championship side.