Exeter Chiefs have been awarded the Rugby Football Union's licence to run the South West Regional Rugby Academy for the next eight years.

Now known as the Exeter Chiefs England Academy, the centre will be run by the Chiefs' academy manager Robin Cowling, who will be based in Truro.

It will have three sites - the Chiefs' Sandy Park home ground, Ivybridge Community College and Truro College.

Youngsters aged 16-18 will train at all three sites, with over-18s in Exeter.

"We are delighted to have won the licence to host the South West's Rugby Academy," said Exeter Chiefs chief executive Tony Rowe.

"We are an ambitious club in terms of the success we are constantly striving towards both on and off the pitch, but we also want to help nurture the talent that obviously exists in our part of the country.

The Guinness Premiership is full of players who started their rugby careers in the strong youth sections and schools throughout Devon and Cornwall and we aim to build on this success Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Pete Drewett

The academy will be overseen by Chiefs' director of rugby Pete Drewett, who is a former England under-21's coach.

"The Guinness Premiership is full of players who started their rugby careers in the strong youth sections and schools throughout Devon and Cornwall and we aim to build on this success," Drewett said.