CHINNOR have bolstered their forward options with the addition of powerful back row Tom Whitehurst.

The No 8 joins from Yorkshire Carnegie, who will be in National League 1 alongside the Kingsey Road side this season following relegation from the Championship.

The 26-year-old, who played in the Premiership A League for Harlequins while with Esher, recently featured in the European Rugby Challenge Cup in the 2018/19 campaign for Romanian side Timisoara Saracens.

He said: “The ambition that (director of rugby) Richard Thorpe talks about and where he sees the club going, it matches my own.

“I liked what he had to say and I want to help this club progress and push towards promotion.

“I’ve been here for a little while now and I’ve loved it so far – the boys are good, the training sessions are great and we’ve been having a lot of fun.

“The coaches here are fantastic and when you have people like that you just have to take in as much as you can.

“With Richard Thorpe being a former Premiership back row as well, it’s great to have the opportunity to learn as much as I can from him.”

The Londoner becomes the fifth forward to sign for the club in recent weeks, joining the likes Soane Tonga’uiha, Pete Austin, Charley Robinson and Jonas Humbert.

Thorpe added: “We are delighted to sign Tom. He is a hard-hitting No 8 who is defensively sound and abrasive in attack with the ball in hand.

“Tom is an exciting raw talent and brings a tough edge to his game which will complement our back row nicely.”