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Meet ‘the Ostrich’ – Exeter’s flying wing from out of AfricaImage source, Rex FeaturesImage caption, Ridl scored the final try in Exeter’s 35-12 win over Bath at Sandy Park last monthByMike Henson
Every summer, Exeter Chiefs players write down personal goals for the campaign to come and beyond.
Last year, Campbell Ridl, who had spent the previous season playing for Exeter University, aimed high.
“This season, I wanted a cap for the Chiefs first team,” the 21-year-old tells BBC Sport.
“Longer term, beyond that, the goal was to be part of the matchday 23 every week.
“I thought those longer goals would be coming in a few years…”
That last line comes with an incredulous chuckle.
Ridl has exceeded all expectations, including his own.
The 21-year-old wing has been a breakout star in Exeter’s renaissance, running in 16 tries in 22 matches this term. On Sunday, he starts in a mammoth Prem semi-final against reigning champions Bath.
“I have been very shocked and surprised by these past few months,” he adds. “And extremely grateful.”
Ridl’s pre-season goal may seem modest now, but it was understandable considering Exeter’s talent out wide.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is England’s best wing. Paul Brown-Bampoe is one of the country’s most promising. Olly Woodburn is second on the club’s all-time try-scoring list.
In some ways, Ridl has been fortunate.
Injuries to Feyi-Waboso and Brown-Bampoe opened a route to his sought-after Exeter debut.
But he has taken his chance and run with it.
Ridl’s form has been so hot that, at times, it has consigned Brown-Bampoe to the bench. Woodburn has reinvented himself as a full-back to make space in the back three.
Woodburn, 34 and in his 11th season at Sandy Park, is something of a mentor.
“I speak to him after training and games and he’s been talking me through his experience and insights on little tricks and stuff to do,” says Ridl.
“It’s just helped me a lot, making me a lot calmer during games.”
Bath v Exeter
Prem semi-final
Saturday 13 June, 15:00 BST
The Rec
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As well as advice, Woodburn, along with hooker Jack Yeandle, has handed Ridl a nickname; ‘the Ostrich’.
“It’s because I’m taller, a bit lanky, pretty quick, long strides,” says 6ft 5in Ridl.
“I think that is what they were going for.”
There is another aspect that makes it apt. Ridl has come out of Africa.
Three months after he was born in south London in 2005, Ridl’s South African parents returned to Cape Town to be closer to family.
They, along with the rest of Ridl’s family, are still out there.
His younger brother Will has recently signed for the Durban-based Sharks after tearing it up in the same school side that Campbell was once part of.
“I think he wanted to come over here, but he got a really good deal at the Sharks,” says Ridl.
“The guys in the club have seen a few videos of him and say they ended up with the worse brother!”
Ridl needed the nicknames and such teasing to draw him out of his shell. He admits as a “really quiet, reserved guy” he struggled at Chiefs in his first few weeks after arriving in 2024.
Managing the step up physically and mentally from university rugby was hard as well.
“I’m down on Exeter’s website as being 90kgs (14st 2lb) – I’ve put a bit on since then, but one of the toughest things currently is keeping the weight on.
“The nutritionist just stated eat as much as you can – everything and anything – so it’s kind of nice, but also kind of tough at times.
“And being in a ‘uni’ mentality coming to this, you don’t take it as seriously as everyone else. But as soon as you start playing for the Chiefs, you have to lock in to the plays, your role and keep clarity. It is mentally draining, but I’ve stuck to it.”
It isn’t just his mind that Ridl has had to keep locked. Studying marketing and management, he still lives with fellow students. The night before games, as his house-mates head out on the town, Ridl has learned a routine.
“Sometimes they mess around and try to wake me up, but nowadays I lock my door so they can’t get in,” he smiles.
On Ridl’s last visit to the Rec, he endured his lowest moment in a season of highlights.
Three minutes into January’s regular-season meeting with Bath, Ridl chased a box kick and, with his eyes locked on the ball, blundered into an airborne Henry Arundell.
Arundell crashed to the turf and Ridl was dispatched from the pitch with a red card.
Image source, Rex FeaturesRidl was shown a 20-minute red card for an aerial challenge on Henry Arundell in Exeter’s away defeat by Bath in January
“I think I learned a lot that day,” says Ridl. “It was my third game in the Prem and mentality wise I was a bit nowhere because it was a capacity crowd at the Rec and I was playing against some big names – Finn Russell, Arundell and all those guys.
“But after that red card, the Chiefs guys helped grow my confidence back, saying that it happens all the time.
“But I learned to really lock in mentally because mentality is a really big thing when it comes to these big games.”
Saturday’s semi-final, where victory would take the Chiefs into a first Prem final in five years, is a big one. But Ridl’s form has inevitably started chatter about even larger stages.
Two Instagram posts, four months apart, sum up a decision that could be up the track.
In late October 2023, he put up a set of pictures of himself, external cheering South Africa’s Rugby World Cup final win – beers in hand, a Springbok on his chest and a caption reading ‘Gosh I love South Africa’.
In April 2024, it was a shot of him, external singing and celebrating as part of England’s under-19 team. This time the caption read ‘I could get used to this’, with a red rose emoji.
“It’s a really tough decision,” says Ridl, who also played for England Under-20s at 2025’s age-grade world championship, of which way he would lean at senior level.
“I’ve been speaking to a lot of people and I don’t really want to make a decision too soon.
“They’re both amazing teams and I think whichever says they want me, I couldn’t say no to.”
Ridl might not want to make a decision soon, but as his pre-season predictions show, timelines are harder to pick than running lines.
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