It was an incredible couple of days for the boys in green with Dafydd Jenkins, Ross Vintcent and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso being selected by Wales, Italy and England respectively.

Jenkins has been on a meteoric rise through the ranks in the South-West in the past 2 years, from scoring the winning try and lifting the BUCS Super Rugby title in 2022, to having the honour of captaining Exeter Chiefs for the first time and becoming the youngest ever to do so. It has been an incredible couple of years for the second row, who has become a mainstay of the Wales squad under both Pivac and Gatland, with the latter calling him up to the World Cup squad alongside fellow Exter Uni alumni Christ Tshuinza.

After 12 caps and plenty of standout performances for Exeter, Gatland has seen something special in the 21, giving him the captain’s armband. The second-youngest player captain ever, he has been dubbed “an incredible professional”, with his “hard work and diligence” being key to the Kiwi’s decision.

Elsewhere in the 6 Nations, there are potential debuts for both Ross Vintcent and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Having only joined Exeter Chiefs and Exeter University this year, anyone would have expected the winger to start slowly, but how wrong they would be. 5 tries already this year and stand-out performances in the Premiership and Champions Cup had Wales and England fighting over his eligibility. Despite being born in Cardiff, Manny chose England, with Steve Borthwick wasting no time and giving him a call-up.

The final member of our fab three is Ross Vintcent. Previously an Italy under-20 and ‘A’ international, the backrower has finally been giving a shot at the senior team at age 21.

After an incredible BUCS Super Rugby season last year, he has gone from strength to strength appearing in nearly all of Chiefs’ matchday squads this season. This has certainly caught the eye of new head coach Gonzalo Quesada, with Vintcent exactly the type of player he may look to build around for the future.

Another alumni has also been selected for the tournament, as Sam Skinner returns to the Scotland squad and will look to add his 30 caps.

With 4 out of the 6 teams having Exeter University representation in their squads, the strength of the club has never been higher.

All their opening games happen over the weekend of 3/4 of February and pitches Feyi-Waboso’s England against Vintcent’s Italy, and Jenkins and Skinner will battle it out in Wales vs Scotland.