Brent Pilnick, BBC Sport England’s Exeter reporter
Ali Hepher’s departure brings the curtain down on one of club rugby’s most successful coaching teams in recent times.
He, Rob Baxter and skills coach Ricky Pellow masterminded Exeter’s promotion to the top flight, and while few gave the Chiefs any hope of survival, under their guidance they survived and thrived.
Hunter would join the staff in 2012 and under that group of coaches Exeter reached six successive Premiership finals between 2016 and 2021 – winning in 2017 and 2020.
The pinnacle came in 2020 when Exeter were crowned European Champions Cup winners – the last non-French side to win the northern hemisphere’s biggest club title.
But as key players have left the club due to Covid-19 induced budget cuts, so Exeter’s stock has fallen.
Three successive seventh placed finishes have been followed by a disastrous 2024-25 campaign.
They lost all of their Champions Cup matches and have won just four Premiership games all season – the wins over Saracens in January and Northampton last week came when their opponents did not field their star players.
While Baxter still speaks highly of Hepher it has become clear that the working relationship has broken down – Tony Rowe said there had been a “clear disconnect” between Exeter Chiefs players and coaching staff.
It is expected that Dave Walder will take over Hepher’s role as attack coach as Exeter look to bounce back from their worst season in recent memory.
