Exmouth have acted quickly to replace departing hooker Mike Wilson with the signing of former England Counties Under 20's and UWIC (Cardiff Met University) hooker Tom Emery. Emery has just completed his studies at UWIC and has moved down to Devon in order to gain some teaching experience ahead of a PGCE teacher training course in 2014.

Exmouth Head Coach Jon Hill comments:

"Emery previously competed with Exeter Chiefs hooker Jack Yeandle for the hooker shirt at UWIC, and has gained a lot of experience in the BUCS league, including this years University final at Twickenham against Durham. He has an impressive CV and boasts Gloucester Academy and Lydney as his previous clubs. Having been in pretty much a full time rugby environment whilst studying at Cardiff for the past three years, he is extremely well conditioned and has been very well coached by Chris Davey, who has a fine reputation for churning out huge amounts of talent at Cardiff Met University.

"With Mike Wilson leaving to go back to Australia, we were fortunate enough to have been put in touch with Tom, via our contacts at UWIC. Having met and spoken with Tom on a number of occasions, he seems extremely motivated, focused and disciplined and wants to progress within rugby circles. With our raised league status, we are extremely pleased that we are seen as an attractive club to come and play for and to be part of their rugby development. This has also seen us gain some closer ties with Plymouth Albion, where we may benefit from some possible loan players and a continuation of our pre season fixture that served us well going into last season.

"Tom will principally compete with another former Gloucester Academy product in Jack Madge, who was heavily involved last season in our promotion winning campaign. With an increased bench size and the need to carry two front rowers on the bench, we will be announcing at least one more front row signing in the coming weeks in order to ensure we have the depth and strength in our resources to be successful at the next level."

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Picture: Tom Emery has become Exmouth's 6th summer signing and replaces Mike Wilson, who has gone back to Australia