The veteran prop is 100 per cent behind the idea of adding a new face to the Guinness Premiership cocktail like Exeter – but warned against the dangers of a closed top-tier.

"I am in favour of getting Exeter up and Worcester back and getting more teams in the Premiership but I don't want to get rid of relegation,” he said.

“There is always trade-off. Do you cap it? Do you stop the opportunity of a club living the dream and getting into the Premiership?

"I would like to see a few more teams come up. Growing up in the south-west, an hour away from Exeter, if Jonny Wilkinson or Danny Cipriani was coming to play at Exeter you would be there like a shot.”