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South African rugby players Jacques Vermeulen and Jannes Kirsten and Zimbabwe-born Dave Ewers committed their futures to English Premiership Rugby side Exeter Chiefs after signing contract extensions with the club.

Vermeulen, Kirsten and Ewers were three of 30 senior players who agreed to remain with the 2016/17 Premiership champions for undisclosed periods of time with the extensions ranging from one year to four years.

Vermeulen, who regularly plays as a flanker, joined the Chiefs in September 2019 on a three-year deal from South African Super Rugby outfit, the Sharks. The 25-year-old has made 20 appearances and scored 25 points.

Kirsten, who plays as a lock, made 22 appearances for Exeter since joining from South African side the Blue Bulls last year. Kirsten appears to have won Baxter’s confidence as a long-term deal is an improvement to the one-year deal he signed in July 2019.

29-year-old Ewers, who can play both flanker and number eight, was born in Harare and was part of Exeter’s Academy system and has made more than 160 appearances for the club scoring 95 points.

Another Zimbabwe-born star, Don Armand, who previously played for the DHL Stormers before joining the Chiefs in 2013, was also among the 30-man list.

Exeter Director of Rugby Rob Baxter said he was happy that they were able to use the period between the salary cap change being discussed and when any new contract that would be allowed in the new salary cap system to finalise all the deals.

“I’m delighted with what has happened. It seems strange really, because there has been an awful lot of news coming out from other clubs in regards what is happening around pay cuts, players leaving, players staying, yet we have got on with our business pretty quickly.”

Baxter said that given a majority of players were of a certain age group (26-27), the management felt that they should “get a really good three or four years out of them”.

“They are all different and not one of them is the same. It’s meant us having individual discussions with players and agents, but in the end I feel like we’ve all got what we need out of it. They are not all four-year deals, nor are they all one-year deals, but we feel we have done the right thing in kind of backing this group of players.

The news will be welcome to Chiefs fans whose team sat on top of the Gallagher Premiership with 45 points after 13 rounds, five clear of their nearest challengers, Sale Sharks.

The Gallagher Premiership season is targeting resumption in mid-August following its indefinite suspension in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.