Exeter boss Rob Baxter says he has been impressed with how young Wales back-row Kane James is maturing.

The 21-year-old won his international first cap in July when Wales lost in Argentina in the Nations Championship.

James broke into the Exeter squad last season and has started both of the Chiefs’ Prem games so far this campaign.

“He’s just following that really nice route where he’s improving at a nice rate, he’s having some good impact on games,” Baxter said.

“Kane can be really pleased with the trajectory his game is going in at the minute.”

James’ physical development has also been noted by Baxter, who says the former England Under-20 player – who switched allegiance to the country he grew up in earlier this year – has been working hard off the field.

“He’s getting thicker, that will happen with quality training, making sure he gets his nutrition and all this kind of stuff,” Baxter added.

“He’s such a diligent guy he is going to maximise his strength and his growth, but he is going to get bigger for quite some time, I would say with Kane.

“That obviously is helping him ride the contact, he’s explosive and very quick.

“Kane’s had a really, really good start to the season, we’ve got to just keep working on these little individual bits and pieces – sometimes in his determination to fly around, a little bit of accuracy trips, but that’s the way you want it.

“You want these lads enthusiastic to run around and get in the game and I think there’s a lot more still to come from Kane.”

England’s Jordan Smith enjoyed a strong start to the Baycurrent Classic with a bogey-free, seven-under 64 leaving him one shot behind first-round leader Jacob Bridgeman in Japan.

Smith, who has made 17 of 23 cuts and recorded eight top-25 finishes with a best of third at the Valspar Championship since earning a PGA Tour card for 2026, registered four birdies on his front nine and three coming home at Yokohama Country Club.

The 33-year-old said: “I’m very happy. I wouldn’t say I had my best stuff out there today but there was a lot of good short game shots, a lot of good putting. It was just a nice day out there.”

On his season as a whole, after securing a tour card based on his DP World Tour performances in 2025, Smith added: “Everything’s very new – new faces, new places, new golf courses.

“To adapt to that quickly, I’m very happy with that. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, it’s been good fun.”

Bogey-free Bridgeman out in front with Schauffele seven back

Bridgeman set the pace with an eight-under 63 – the 26-year-old also going bogey-free and reeling off four gains in a row at one point – as he pursues a second win in as many starts, after the Biltmore Championship Asheville last month, and third of the season.

A week after his victory in North Carolina on September 20, Bridgeman was involved in Team USA’s stunning comeback to defeat an international side at the Presidents Cup, winning his Sunday singles against Min Woo Lee in a 17-13 success.

America had trailed 10.5-7.5 heading into the final day at Medinah but then won nine of the 12 singles encounters and tied another.

Xander Schauffele – who beat Open champion Ryan Fox 2&1 in the final singles match at the Presidents Cup – is the defending champion at the Baycurrent Classic.

The two-time major winner shot a one-under 70 in round one, mixing four birdies with three bogeys, to sit outside the top 30.

Schauffele’s countrymen Max Homa, Pierceson Coody, Mac Meissner and Ricky Castillo share third place, behind Bridgeman and Smith, on six under par, with 2024 champion Nico Echavarria four off the lead on four under and just outside the top 10.

The Baycurrent Classic, formerly known as the Zozo Championship, was first played in 2019 when Tiger Woods took the title after beating home player Hideki Matsuyama by three strokes.

It has been played in Japan every year bar 2020, when it was switched to California due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Watch round two of the Baycurrent Classic live on Sky Sports Golf from 4am on Friday. Coverage also picks up on Sky Sports Main Event from 5am. Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with NOW.