Ian Whitten (born 5 June 1987) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player for

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

. He was capped by Ireland on their 2009 tour to North America when he lined out against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 23 May 2009. He plays as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Ulster

A former pupil of Wallace High School, Whitten was recruited to the Phoenix Ulster Rugby Academy in 2007, having already represented Ireland at U18 and U19 levels. The 2008–9 season was the real breakthrough season for Whitten with his first senior Ulster cap coming against Stade Francais in the Heineken Cup and he went on to establish himself in the side for the rest of the season. This culminated in a call-up to the Ireland squad for the summer tour of USA and Canada, where he won two senior caps.

Exeter Chiefs

It was announced on 8 March 2012 that Whitten would be joining English

side

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

for the 2012–2013 season. Whitten was involved in 16 games in his debut season with the Chiefs and was also involved in the Chiefs maiden

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

campaign. Whitten established himself as a strong contender in the centers for the Chiefs with his good lines of running and strong defensive play. He started the final as Exeter Chiefs defeated

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

to be crowned champions of the 2016–17 English Premiership. Whitten won a second Premiership and a European Cup with Chiefs in 2018–19.

References

External links

Exeter Chiefs Player Profile

Aviva Premiership Player Profile

RaboDirectPRO12 Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitten, Ian 1987 births Living people Ulster Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players People educated at Wallace High School, Lisburn Lisburn Cricket Club players Rugby union centres Exeter Chiefs players