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Bristol sign Saracens scrum-half Tom Whiteley

12 Jan 2021

(Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Bristol have begun their unexpected two-week layoff by announcing the signing of Saracens scrum-half Tom Whiteley on a two-year deal. With their European games postponed on Monday, Pat Lam has given his squad a break from training.

However, that hasn’t stopped off-field business at the club from continuing, Lam snapping up the 25-year-old in time for the 2021/22 campaign.

Speaking about the recruitment of Whiteley, who has made 49 appearances for ex-Premiership champions Saracens and scored 91 points, Lam said: “Competition and quality depth right across all positions is crucial for our continued growth.

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“Tom has the hunger and ambition to compete with the scrum-halves we have here already. His skill set and talent certainly complement the way we like to play the game. To add another young, talented scrum-half to our squad is exciting and Tom will ensure that we keep raising the bar and standard in all positions as we strive to be world-class in everything we do.”

Bristol report that Whiteley caught the eye during his time at Millfield School, playing alongside Callum Sheedy, where he was awarded player of the tournament for the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools 7s in 2014.

🐻 Scrum-half
🐻 25-years-old
🐻 Heading to @ashtongatestad @T_whiteley95 will join #BristolBears ahead of the 2021/22 season 👋 pic.twitter.com/xq7zYLuud5
— Bristol Bears 🐻 (@BristolBears) January 12, 2021

Whiteley said: “I’m excited by the opportunity at Bristol Bears. Everybody can see the direction the club is heading and the ambition that Pat Lam and the team are showing in their game. You feel a fantastic wave of energy simply when you walk into the new Bears high performance centre. I’m looking forward to continuing my development as a player and realising my full potential in that environment.”

Lam’s decision to bring in a scrum-half comes less than a week after he was effusive in the praise regarding the progress of Harry Randall, the No9 who has been linked with possible England and Wales Test level call-ups. “Pound for pound he is one of the best tacklers I have seen. You will struggle to see him miss tackles and you see him do double, triple efforts… he’s a tough bugger and I believe without a doubt he has got a huge future in the game and certainly will one day grace the international stage.”

"Pound for pound he is one of the best tacklers I have seen"
– Bristol Bears have every faith in their small in stature scrum-half, Harry Randall, going all the way to Test level 🐻 #GallagherPrem #EXEvBRI
https://t.co/N3TsBWeKcS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 9, 2021

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Comments on RugbyPass

SG 15 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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Thomas Walsh 20 minutes ago

Super Rugby Pacific's rebirth can finally restore the missing All Blacks edge

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Virginia Jarrah 36 minutes ago

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JW 37 minutes ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

Yes I’m wondering how those names as examples compare to the likes of Bryne getting squeezed out for a lack of places. I’m only thinking of effects far down the line as a result of Irelands #1 ranking and increased publicity/interest and how Irelands system will take advantage of them.

47 Go to comments

GP 43 minutes ago

James O'Connor earns first Crusaders start against Moana Pasifika

Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

4 Go to comments

Andrew Nichols 44 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

7 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 46 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

7 Go to comments

GB 52 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

7 Go to comments

Spew_81 55 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

41 Go to comments

Spew_81 57 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

41 Go to comments

Koro Teeps 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

7 Go to comments

DC 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

7 Go to comments

Gradier Walter 3 hours ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders