Five London Irish players find new homes in the Premiership

Five London Irish players have signed deals to join Premiership clubs Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons and Saracens, it’s been confirmed.

London Irish’s suspension from the Premiership has left several players without a club next season, but the quintet have secured moves to remain in the league in 2023/24.

Prop Lovejoy Chawatama, back-rower Chandler Cunningham-South and centre Will Joseph have signed on to join Harlequins, fly-half Rory Jennings will link up with Newcastle Falcons while tighthead prop Ollie Hoskins is moving to Saracens.

Harlequins swoop for Exiles trio

30-year-old prop Chawatama joins the Famous Quarters after playing 18 times for London Irish in the Premiership last season.?

The Zimbabwean front-rower made over 50 appearances for the Exiles during his time with the London club.?

He started his career as a back-row before switching to prop and represented England Students and enjoyed stints with Clifton RFC, London Scottish and London Welsh.

Joining Chawatama at Quins is England U20 back-row Cunningham-South.

Commenting on the signing of Chawatama, director of rugby Billy Millard said: “We’ve been saddened by the London Irish situation, and our thoughts remain with all players, staff and supporters.

“It’s been a difficult few weeks, but we’re pleased to support Lovejoy and provide him with an opportunity to remain in the Premiership.

“He’s a hard-working prop who strengthens our front-row and adds excellent experience to our squad. We’re excited by the impact he will make at Quins.”

Cunningham-South is a highly-rated versatile forward who grew up in New Zealand playing for North Harbour, Canterbury and Lincoln University and joined the London Irish Academy last year.

He made his Premiership debut against Bath in May 2022, and last season played 19 times in the league, proving a handful in attack and defence, with 73 carries, 91 tackles and three tries.

He quickly made himself a regular in the side, also turning out in all four of the Exiles’ Champions Cup pool stage matches, Montpellier and Stormers.

His performances for the club earned him a call-up to the England U20 squad for the 2022 and 2023 Six Nations before earning selection in England’s squad for the upcoming U20 World Championship.

“I’m excited to be starting a new opportunity at Harlequins and extremely grateful for the chance to join the club,”?Cunningham-South said.

“I want to thank everyone at London Irish for the special memories and support. I loved my time playing for Irish and want to thank the supporters for the encouragement and thank my coaches and teammates for believing in me and helping me grow as a player and person.”

England back Will Joseph

Harlequins have also moved to fill Joe Marchant’s void with 20-year-old England centre Joseph signing with the club.

The London Irish Academy graduate joined the Exiles at the age of 13 and was capped for England U18, and made his Premiership and European debut in 2020/21.

The younger brother of Jonathan Joseph, Will represented England during the 2022 U20 Six Nations and made his senior Test debut against Australia later that same year.

Speaking ahead of his Quins signing, Joseph said: “I’m excited to be joining Harlequins and appreciate how quickly they’ve made me feel so welcome.

“It’s obviously been a tough couple of months for everyone involved with London Irish, with an ending that none of us ever expected, and I just wanted to thank all the fans, coaches, and staff for their time and help in my career so far and hope to see some of them at The Stoop next season.”

Falcons sign Exiles pivot

Meanwhile, Newcastle have moved to replace departed fly-half Tian Schoeman, with Jennings signing a two-year deal.

The 27-year-old, who can also play centre, spent the past two seasons with London Irish, having arrived in 2021 from French giants Clermont.

Jennings made 19 appearances for London Irish last season, 11 of them in the Premiership and four in the Champions Cup.

Newcastle Falcons head coach Alex Codling said: “Rory brings with him a lot of different qualities and is someone that I’ve worked with before, so I know he’s a great character.

“He’s been a key part of a London Irish team who played exceptionally well last season, and I’m looking forward to seeing him make a really positive impact here.

“He’s very comfortable playing either at centre or flyhalf, and he has a great ability to play at the line, which will suit the way we want to play. That option to have him as a second receiver gives us great flexibility, but he’ll make a big contribution wherever he plays.”

Jennings is Newcastle’s 12 signing ahead of next season, joining Murray McCallum (Edinburgh), Eduardo Bello (Saracens), Cameron Hutchison (Edinburgh), Hugh O’Sullivan (London Irish), Tim Cardall (Melbourne Rebels), Louis Brown (Coventry), Ollie Leatherbarrow (Exeter Chiefs), Kiran McDonald (ex-Munster), Bryan Byrne (Bristol Bears), Josh Bainbridge (Coventry) and John Kelly (Doncaster Knights).

Prop Hoskins joins Saracens

Lastly, tighthead prop Hoskins has joined Saracens after a seven-year spell at London Irish, and the 30-year-old will begin pre-season with the Men in Black in the coming weeks.

The Australian international had been with the Exiles since 2016 and made 164 appearances for them, meaning he brings plenty of experience to StoneX Stadium.

The 128kg prop started his career in Super Rugby with Western Force before moving to England, and he now adds further depth to the tighthead department with the likes of Marco Riccioni, Alec Clarey and Christian Judge.

Hoskins is thrilled to be making the move to North London.

“I’m incredibly excited to start this new chapter in my career,” he said. “The last month has been chaotic, emotional and stressful for me and my wife, so I am really grateful for the opportunity to represent Saracens, and hopefully add something to the already world-class environment.

“Everyone I have spoken to throughout this process have been super supportive, and I’m motivated to throw myself into pre-season and become a better player, it is an exciting challenge.

“Lastly, I want to thank London Irish for the last seven years. It’s been heartbreaking to go through this period, as the club was filled with genuinely incredible people both on and off the field. They shaped me into the player and man I am today, and I wouldn’t be in this position without them. So to all those who’ve been involved with London Irish over my career there, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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