Baxter excited to welcome Wallabies duo to Exeter

Len Ikitau started all of Australia's seven matches this summer

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter is hopeful new Australian signings Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper will play for the club before the autumn internationals.

The pair are currently part of the Wallabies squad competing in the Rugby Championship.

Both players have started all three of Australia's matches in the competition, which finishes in early October.

"They should be available at least a couple of games before the autumn international break, providing they turn up obviously injury free," Baxter told BBC Radio Devon.

"We're in regular communication with them. They seem very keen, very happy to get over here as soon as possible and get stuck in."

Tom Hooper was a team-mate mate of Len Ikitau's at Brumbies, with the pair moving across to Exeter at the same time

Having finished a club-worst second from bottom in the Premiership last season, Baxter is hopeful his new signings can improve Exeter's recent form.

Back row Hooper and centre Ikitau join Italy internationals Stephen Varney and Andrea Zambonin as well as South African hooker Joseph Dweba among the club's new foreign imports.

Ikitau has started all of Australia's Test matches this summer, playing Fiji and three games against the British and Irish Lions, before facing South Africa twice and Argentina over the past few weeks.

Despite finishing the Super Rugby season and going straight into an international tournament, Baxter is confident that Ikitau will have enough rest over the course of the season to perform well for his new club.

"He'll have an opportunity for some break within the autumn window," Baxter added.

"He's unlikely to be involved in all those Test matches for Australia. I think they'll be happy to give him a little bit of a break during that window. Obviously, it's quite a long window, so there's a little bit of an opportunity to freshen up there.

"When we get further into the season and there's a Six Nations break, he'll have the opportunity to have a good break then as well.

"So there'll be plenty of opportunities to build breaks in for him as we go along through the season.

"We may rotate a little bit heading into Europe, depending on where we stand in that competition, so we're pretty comfortable we can build into significant rest periods that we think will make sure that these guys stay at the top of their game."