Leicester Tigers have agreed a new two-year deal worth £500,000 a season with club skipper Ollie Chessum, who will now remain at Welford Road until 2029.

Chessum, 26, who has been tipped as a future England captain, has made 88 appearances for the Tigers since he made his debut in a PREM defeat against Gloucester at Kingsholm in August 2020.

The lock was named by Geoff Parling last season as the Tigers’ youngest captain since Ian ‘Dosser’ Smith in 1983 and has become a key player for both club and country.

Chessum, who has won 38 caps for the Red Rose, becomes the second Tigers international after Jack van Poortvliet to sign a new long-term contract to stay at Welford Road.

A member of the victorious 2025 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, where he earned three Test caps, Chessum said it was an easy decision to recommit to the Tigers, who could go top of the Gallagher PREM table with a win at Bristol Bears tomorrow night.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision. I saw what Jack van Poortvliet said when he re-signed last week. It makes it so much easier when you love the club but also love the people in it.

“I’ve got some of my closest mates here, and I think we’re at that turning point in our careers for a lot of us where we’ve gone from being those younger players to now all being in leadership roles, and we can take this place where we want it.

“Adding to that, we’ve got a real bit of consistency with Geoff (Parling) being here for a second season. I really enjoy working with him, and for me it was just as simple as I couldn’t imagine wearing any other badge on my chest,” he said.

While Parling said: “It’s just over a year since I asked Chess to captain the club and he’s been brilliant at driving our preparation levels each week.

“I want our environment to have both a hard edge and be fun, with a real togetherness in the group, and I think his personality fits this really well. The exciting part is that he’s got huge potential to keep pushing and growing his game further for both ourselves and England.”