Roots brothers push each other to 'higher standard'

Sets of brothers playing for Exeter Chiefs is nothing new - although the club's latest set of siblings have travelled the furthest to forge their careers at Sandy Park.

Following in the footsteps of Sam and Joe Simmonds, Jack and Sam Maunder, and current boss Rob Baxter and his brother Richie - who both played with distinction for the Devon club - are New Zealand-born siblings Ethan and Jimmy Roots.

Prop Jimmy joined Exeter this summer from Championship champions Ealing Trailfinders, following his older brother, who has had a meteoric rise since making his move to Sandy Park 12 months earlier.

Having come in from Welsh side Ospreys, Ethan's form earned him a place in England's Six Nations squad this year before touring to his homeland this summer.

"We've probably got higher standards of ourselves than we would hold to other people, which is only going to benefit us," says Ethan, 26, of the strong bond with his brother built as they grew up in Auckland, playing for East Coast Bays and North Harbour.

"I'd be a lot harsher on Jimmy than I would be on any other tighthead, and he'd be a lot harsher on me than he would be on any other loose forward because we expect the best out of each other, especially if we're going to share the field together.

"We expect everything out of each other, so I think we're only going to go from strength to strength with that."

Ethan's four caps for England at the Six Nations - won less than four months after making his Premiership debut - has shown his 24-year-old younger brother what can be achieved if you can take your chance.

"I'm massively grateful to be down here, back with the bro and playing at the top," says Jimmy.

"That's what you always want to do, especially as a young fella, just play at the top wherever you can and I'm super grateful to be here.

"Prior to him coming to England it was always a goal of mine to play at the top - whatever league I was in it was just get to the next level and play at the top.

"Him coming here and taking off just sort of deepened that thought and showed me even more so that it was very much possible for two fellas from New Zealand to do whatever they want anywhere.

"There's no boundaries to what we can set for ourselves and it fuelled it even more so."

With an English father and Kiwi mother, the Auckland-born duo have the qualifications to play for two of the biggest nations in world rugby.

But Ethan says an international cap - for any nation - is a reward not just for him but for the family, friends and coaches who have helped him reach the top.

"My mum would always say, 'You're going to play for the All Blacks one day,' and then my old man would be like, 'What about the Rose?'

"So it's always been there, the old man's always been pushing it, we just never thought it was a possibility because of where we were.

"So to come over here and have that opportunity to go out and represent England was obviously unbelievable.

"People will say you're raised by a village, not just your parents, it's a village that raises you and that's what was nice about, it felt like I got there for everyone else, not necessarily just myself."

Jimmy says he was "pumped" when his brother won his first England cap.

"I've seen him work so hard for so many years now and sometimes go without being noticed.

"So to see him step into the light and really run away with it, it was really inspiring for me.

"I felt so super proud just to watch him be able to do what he told me he was going to, because he said two or three years ago that was his goal.

"So for him to be able to step in and make it happen like that through hard work I think showed the sort of character he is."

Ethan joined Exeter soon after the club said goodbye to a host of established players, including household names such as Stuart Hogg, Jack Nowell and Sam Simmonds, who had helped to win two Premierships and a European Champions Cup.

The new-look squad, with the likes of Roots, Josh Hodge, Christ Tshiunza, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Dafydd Jenkins taking up more prominent roles, earned the moniker 'Chiefs 2.0' in some quarters.

And that rebooted Exeter squad only just missed out on a play-off place as they eventually finished seventh in the Premiership - a position Ethan in keen to improve on.

"Anyone who watched the competition knows how tight it was last year, especially coming into the run-in post that Six Nations block," he says.

"Going into that last game I think there were four teams that could have taken that last place in the top four.

"Seventh's not a great number, but we're pretty happy with what we produced last year and we're looking to take it up another level this year.

"Our big growth areas is our away games, becoming a bit tougher there," he adds.

"We put out some good performances, but also put out some pretty disappointing ones, so I think that's kind of a focus for us this year."