Greg Holmes: Exeter Chiefs prop to join Western Force on short-term deal

Greg Holmes played 57 times and scored three tries for Exeter

Prop Greg Holmes is to leave Exeter to return to his native Australia.

The 37-year-old, who played in the 2015 World Cup final, has spent four seasons at Exeter and featured in the 2018 Premiership final.

Holmes' contract was due to finish at the end of the season and he has agreed a short-term deal with Western Force.

"In my head I was going to finish my career with the Chiefs, retire and then move on to the next stage of my life," he said.

"Obviously, Covid-19 stopped all of that, not just for me, but for people around the world. It's certainly been strange times for all of us and it's meant that I won't be able to finish here in Exeter as I wanted."

But the former Queensland Reds forward said he was happy to take an unexpected chance to have one final swansong to a career that saw him play 27 times for the Wallabies

"This is a chance to make the trip home a little easier, but at the same time go out playing," he told the Exeter club website.

"When I spoke to Rob [Baxter, Exeter's director of rugby] about it all - and this speaks volumes of the man he is - not only was he excited for me, but at the same time he was also trying to find a way where he could give guys like myself and others who are leaving the right send-off.

"Obviously, the times we're living in mean that couldn't happen, but even with all the stuff that's going on and what he is trying to sort out on a day-to-day basis, he was still thinking of us blokes and that's fantastic."