5 Exeter Chiefs Players To Know For The 2026-27 Gallagher PREM Season

Meet five Exeter Chiefs players who define their 2026-27 PREM season, from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to major signing Dallas McLeod.

Sep 9, 2026 by Joe Harrington

5 Exeter Chiefs Players To Know For The 2026-27 Gallagher PREM Season

Exeter Chiefs are no longer the rebuilding project that finished ninth in 2024-25. Rob Baxter’s new generation surged to third in the 2025-26 PREM regular season, won a semifinal at Bath and pushed Northampton in the final before losing 26-17.

Now Exeter must prove that breakthrough can survive higher expectations, Champions Cup rugby, international absences and significant roster turnover. The five players below are not simply Exeter’s five biggest names.

They represent the pieces that explain what the Chiefs have become: explosive strike power, veteran control, young leadership, a rapidly developing pack and the signing designed to solve their biggest offseason problem.

Know them, and Exeter’s 2026-27 ambitions make considerably more sense.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Wing

If Exeter need one player to turn an ordinary possession into a match-changing moment, Feyi-Waboso is the obvious candidate.

The England wing enters 2026-27 as Exeter’s most explosive attacking weapon and one of two Chiefs, alongside Henry Slade, in England’s enhanced-contract group. His acceleration and power through contact give Exeter a way to create metres without needing a perfectly constructed attacking sequence.

That matters because the Chiefs’ resurgence was built more decisively on defense than overwhelming attacking production. They conceded a league-low 367 points during the 2025-26 regular season. Feyi-Waboso supplies the opposite ingredient: a player capable of converting a half-chance into seven points.

He finished last season with 13 tries across competitions in Exeter’s end-of-season count despite interruptions and returned rapidly from jaw surgery to play in the PREM final.

The question is availability. Exeter’s success has produced a growing international contingent, and Feyi-Waboso is now an established England player. When he is wearing a Chiefs shirt, however, he gives Baxter a weapon that dramatically raises Exeter’s attacking ceiling.

Henry Slade, Center

Feyi-Waboso provides the explosion. Slade provides the map.

At 33, Exeter’s longtime center remains the team’s rugby brain: primary tactical kicker, likely first-choice goal kicker, high-level distributor and crucial defensive organizer. He also allows Exeter to operate with more than one first receiver, giving the halfbacks another experienced decision-maker when matches become tactically complicated.

His importance increases because Exeter’s midfield is changing. Wallabies center Len Ikitau became the first-choice No. 12 during last season’s run to the final before returning to Australia. Will Butt can fill that role early, while Dallas McLeod arrives later in 2026.

Through all that transition, Slade is the constant at 13.

Exeter are trying to blend traditional Chiefs strengths — physicality, territory, set-piece pressure and defensive toughness — with the faster attacking ideas introduced under Dave Walder. Slade is the player who connects those identities. He can manage territory when Exeter need control and distribute when their dangerous outside backs have space.

Dafydd Jenkins, Lock

The captain is only 23, which says plenty about both Jenkins and the team Baxter has built.

Jenkins has already captained Wales and led Exeter in the 2026 PREM final. His club profile lists more than 80 Chiefs appearances, an extraordinary amount of senior experience for a player who remains young enough to be part of Exeter’s long-term core.

His importance is structural as well as emotional. Exeter increasingly build their second row around Jenkins and Italy international Andrea Zambonin, who started 15 PREM matches together in 2025-26. Zambonin’s shoulder surgery means that partnership will be disrupted early this season, putting even more responsibility on Jenkins when available.

Jenkins also underwent shoulder surgery after the final, although Exeter reported in August that his rehabilitation was progressing well and hoped he could be ready for the beginning of the PREM campaign.

For a club trying to establish that last season was the beginning of another competitive era, Jenkins is the clearest symbol: a young international captain already expected to lead championship-level performances.

Greg Fisilau, No. 8

Fisilau may be the best evidence that Exeter’s rebuild has moved beyond promising prospects.

The 23-year-old established himself at No. 8 during a transformative 2025-26 season, scored twice in Exeter’s away victory over Saracens, played all 80 minutes in the comeback against Sale and earned selection in England’s senior squad.

His Exeter profile lists 80 appearances and 21 tries. Those numbers change the way he should be viewed. Fisilau is not a youngster waiting for a breakthrough; he is already a central PREM player trying to make the next jump into Test rugby.

He also sits at the heart of Exeter’s greatest positional strength. Tom Hooper, Ethan Roots, Ross Vintcent and Kane James make the back row ferociously competitive, while Jenkins and Zambonin strengthen an athletic back five.

Fisilau nevertheless looks like one of the first names on Baxter’s team sheet. His development helps determine whether Exeter’s pack merely remains difficult to handle or becomes the foundation of another championship team.

Dallas McLeod, Center

McLeod is unusual for a “player to know” list because Exeter supporters must wait to see him. The Crusaders center does not join the Chiefs until the end of 2026.

That delay is precisely why he matters.

Exeter recruited the 27-year-old, one-cap All Black after knowing they would lose Ikitau and Will Rigg. Baxter identified McLeod as an important piece of the midfield puzzle, and his three-year deal gives Exeter a prime-age center intended to become a starter-level option at 12 or 13.

He arrives with more than 60 Crusaders appearances and a reputation within Exeter’s recruitment assessment for accuracy and dependability. Alongside Slade, Butt and the club’s emerging centers, he should give Baxter another experienced midfield profile.

But the Chiefs must navigate the opening months without him. That makes McLeod both a major addition and a reminder of Exeter’s biggest early-season vulnerability.

If Butt can bridge the gap and McLeod integrates quickly after arriving, Exeter may have replaced Ikitau without lowering their long-term ceiling. If the midfield struggles before or after the handoff, one of last season’s most consequential departures will become much harder to disguise at Sandy Park.

Exeter Chiefs 2026-27 Frequently Asked Questions

How Can Rugby Fans In The United States Watch Exeter Chiefs On FloRugby?

Rugby fans in the United States can follow Exeter Chiefs during the 2026-27 season on FloRugby, with matches also available to stream through the FloSports app.

Exeter Chiefs 2026-27 PREM And Champions Cup Schedule: Every Match

Gallagher PREM

Round 1: Exeter Chiefs vs. Gloucester, Sept. 26, 2026
Round 2: Bath Rugby vs. Exeter Chiefs, Oct. 2, 2026
Round 3: Bristol Bears vs. Exeter Chiefs, Oct. 10, 2026
Round 4: Exeter Chiefs vs. Newcastle Red Bulls, Oct. 24, 2026
Round 5: Exeter Chiefs vs. Sale Sharks, Oct. 31, 2026
Round 6: Harlequins vs. Exeter Chiefs, Dec. 5, 2026
Round 7: Exeter Chiefs vs. Saracens, Dec. 19, 2026
Round 8: Leicester Tigers vs. Exeter Chiefs, Jan. 2, 2027
Round 9: Exeter Chiefs vs. Northampton Saints, Jan. 23, 2027
Round 10: Sale Sharks vs. Exeter Chiefs, Jan. 30, 2027
Round 11: Exeter Chiefs vs. Harlequins, Feb. 20, 2027
Round 12: Newcastle Red Bulls vs. Exeter Chiefs, Feb. 27, 2027
Round 13: Exeter Chiefs vs. Bristol Bears, March 20, 2027
Round 14: Northampton Saints vs. Exeter Chiefs, March 27, 2027
Round 15: Exeter Chiefs vs. Bath Rugby, April 17, 2027
Round 16: Saracens vs. Exeter Chiefs, April 24, 2027
Round 17: Exeter Chiefs vs. Leicester Tigers, May 8, 2027
Round 18: Gloucester vs. Exeter Chiefs, May 15, 2027

Investec Champions Cup

Round 1: Toulouse vs. Exeter Chiefs, Oct. 18, 2026
Round 2: Exeter Chiefs vs. Connacht, Dec. 13, 2026
Round 3: Exeter Chiefs vs. La Rochelle, Jan. 9, 2027
Round 4: Lions vs. Exeter Chiefs, Jan. 16, 2027