NILE DACRES has become the first Plymouth Albion player to commit to the club for next season.

The 24-year-old, who can play lock or back-row, started every match during the 2015/16 campaign after joining Plymouth from Moseley, scoring 12 tries.

Dacres, who began his career at Worcester Warriors before moving to Stourbridge, was keen to stay in Plymouth – the city where his dad once played basketball.

He said: “I’m really pleased to have signed to continue my career at Plymouth Albion. I worked really hard last season and got my rewards on the pitch

“We all started together last year as a new team at Albion and did really well. Hopefully, we can keep the nucleus of that team together and carry on the progress made over into next season. 

“Albion must be looking to build on what they achieved last season and with the addition of some new faces we hopefully could be challenging at the top of National One.”

Albion’s new owners have met with a number of players in the last few days and hope to announce more re-signings in the coming days. West Country players like Dan Pullinger, Matt Shepherd, Herbie Stupple, Sam Matavesi and Jake Murphy are all believed to be keen to stay in the area.

Albion, though, will need to recruit a new front-row after losing Ollie Dawe, James Penman and Christian Judge, and a new fly-half with Billy Searle heading to Bristol. The club have also still to announce who will be coaching them next season.