New Exeter Chiefs signing Tua needs neck surgery

Tamati Tua scored five tries in 31 appearances for ACT Brumbies

Exeter Chiefs have signed centre Tamati Tua and loosehead prop Kwenzo Blose.

Tua, 26, joins from Australian Super Rugby side ACT Brumbies but the New Zealander is expected to miss the start of the new Premiership season in September as he requires surgery on a neck issue.

Blose, 27, a former South Africa Under-20 international, joins from United Rugby Championship side DHL Stormers.

The pair will now try and help Exeter back to the Premiership play-offs after the Chiefs finished seventh last season for the third successive campaign.

Tua began his career with Northlands in the New Zealand Championship before the Auckland Blues offered him a first taste of top-flight rugby in 2018.

He moved to the Canberra-based Brumbies in 2023 and played 31 games, scoring five tries.

“People will be aware that centre is a position that we’ve had great strength in over a number of years," director of rugby Rob Baxter told the club website.

"Through age and players moving on, that’s slowly changed in terms of experience. So it’s an area we’ve been wanting to strengthen."

Baxter added: “Unfortunately, he’s arrived with a neck issue which he picked up towards the end of last season’s campaign... and it’s likely that he’ll need an operation shortly which will require a period of rehab."

Blose made his professional debut for Cape Town-based Western Province in 2018 before moving to DHL Stormers in 2020.

Baxter said: "He promises to be an exciting, strong and very important member of our squad going forward.”