La Rochelle have secured the services of young Irish backrow Richie Whelan for the rest of this season.
Whelan has come to an agreement with the French side having attended a trial before Christmas. This month, he has played for the Espoirs, La Rochelle’s under-21 side. While Whelan has not signed a contract, the club have confirmed that he will play for their age grade outfit until the end of this season.
After captaining Cistercian College Roscrea in the 2023 Senior Cup, Whelan played for Clontarf in the AIL with no Leinster academy deal forthcoming. He was part of an Ireland under-19 squad in 2023.
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Whelan came through the Leinster youth set-up at under-18, under-19 and under-20 level. In 2021, he featured on the Leinster under-18 schools side which won an interprovincial title. A number of players in that group joined the Leinster academy this year, including Oliver Coffey, Ruben Moloney, Andrew Sparrow, Alan Spicer, Hugo McLaughlin and Stephen Smyth. Jack Murphy, Sam Berman and Wilhelm de Klerk also featured in that squad and have subsequently signed for Ulster.
Injury combined with backrow competition from the likes of Brian Gleeson, Bryn Ward, Sean Edogbo and Luke Murphy ensured Whelan missed out on selection for Ireland under-20s last year.
Identified as a powerful ball carrier, Whelan travelled to La Rochelle before Christmas to undergo a trial. While at Roscrea, Whelan trained in Nenagh alongside coaches who previously worked with Donnacha Ryan, the former Munster and Ireland secondrow now on La Rochelle’s coaching staff.
Since going on trial, Whelan has featured in two matches for the club’s Espoirs, packing down at number eight on both occasions. On January 11th, he started the club’s 54-17 victory over Rouen, keeping his spot for last weekend’s 21-27 loss to Brive. Ike Anagu, the former Ireland under-20 international also on La Rochelle’s books, was in the squad for the recent defeat too.
La Rochelle’s Espoirs are next in action against Colomiers on February 15th. Toulouse and Bordeaux are among their opponents with seven games remaining on their schedule this season.
Whelan began his career at Portlaoise Rugby Club before attending Roscrea. He featured in a pair of Senior Cup campaigns, captaining the school to the quarter-final stage in his sixth year. He last featured for Clontarf in the AIL during their round nine win over City of Armagh back in December.
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