In a busy 24 hours at Sandy Park, Exeter Chiefs today confirmed their third signing for the 2011/12 season with the capture of Myles Dorrian from Championship side Bedford Blues.

The Australian-born back follows scrum-half Kevin Barrett and prop Craig Mitchell in signing on for the Devon club, who have made no secret of their desire to find a new fly-half following the departure of Ryan Davis to London Wasps.

Head coach Rob Baxter and assistant Ali Hepher have run the rule over a number of potential new recruits in recent weeks, but it is the 28-year-old who they have opted for as the man to challenge for the number ten jersey next term.

Signed by Bedford coach Mike Rayer at the start of the 2009/10 season after three years at Coventry, Dorrian has made quite a name for himself at Goldington Road scoring 194 points to date for the club.

Now, though, Dorrian admits he is ready to make the step up in standard and join the Chiefs as they look to build on what has been a hugely encouraging first season in English rugby’s top division.

“It is every rugby players dream to play at the highest level and to make the move to Exeter will be a real test for me,” said Dorrian. “I’m looking forward to battling for the number ten shirt.

“Playing at Goldington Road has been fantastic and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my time with the players and coaches. I have developed as a player and my all-round game is far better than it was two years ago and I am now looking forward to another new challenge.”

Having come up against Dorrian whilst the Chiefs were in the Championship, Baxter knows what his new recruit can bring to the table.

“Everybody is well aware that after Ryan’s decision to move to Wasps, we were in the market for a new number ten at the club,” said Baxter. “We know all about Myles from our days in the Championship and we’ve continued to keep an eye on him this season.

“He’s an exciting player; he’s got good hands and he can goal-kick as well. I know he’s probably not kicked a huge amount at Bedford because they have James Pritchard there, but he is a more than capable goal-kicker and I’m sure he will fit in very well to the set-up here at Exeter.

“As I said, we’ve come across him quite a bit in the past and we’ve monitored him closely this season. He’s served what I would call a good apprenticeship in the Championship, which is a good division, but now we feel he is ready to make that next step up.”

Baxter added: “Of course there are areas of his game which we feel we can develop, but getting him into a full-time environment with us and getting the right conditioning under his belt, we’re confident he can make a real impact at the club.

“He’s been playing at Bedford for the past couple of years and we know Bedford are a good rugby side and that they like to play a good style of rugby. We’re obviously delighted to have him on board and think he will prove a real good acquisition for us.”