Thomas Waldrom and Harry Williams sign Exeter extension

Forwards Thomas Waldrom and Harry Williams are the latest names to commit their futures to Aviva Premiership club Exeter.

The new deal will keep both the players at Sandy Park until the end of the 2017/18 season.

The latest development is yet another pre-season boost for coach Rob Baxter who recently secured contracts with Waldrom's fellow England internationals Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Baxter has described the new extension deal as a 'reward' for the 33-year-old number eight and the 25-year-old prop's impressive performance in the previous season.

"What we have done is moved quickly to extend the deals for both lads. They were both under contract for this season, but we've extended them by a year and got things done nice and early.

"It's a reward for both of them for doing so well, but it also keeps that solidity within the squad that we like to have."

Waldrom, one of the Premiership's notable try-scorers, has scored 36 tries in 54 appearances for the Chiefs whereas Williams impressed Baxter with his overall performance when Exeter reached the Premiership final and were European Champions Cup quarter-finalists.

"Tom shown in the last couple of years that he's playing right at top of the game, but we are still confident that physically and mentally he is still up to contributing a lot to the team and to the club.

"It's the same for Harry, he came in for his first year last season and he did extremely well. There are not many guys who have come out of the Championship and found themselves playing in European quarter-finals, Premiership semi-finals, a Premiership final and done as well as he has.

"As I said, this is reward for both of them and we expect them to offer a lot to us again over this season and next."