Jack Whetton

Jack Whetton (born 24 May 1992) is a New Zealand Rugby Union player who currently plays as a lock for Yorkshire Carnegie in the RFU Championship

Whetton started out his playing career in North Harbour, playing two years of club rugby there before debuting in the 2012 ITM Cup for Northland. He switched to Auckland for the 2013 season due to personal reasons and played 9 matches as his side made the semi-finals of the competition. His performances caught the attention of the Blues Super Rugby franchise who wanted to contract him to their wider training group for the 2013 Super Rugby season. In a controversial move that shocked the rugby world, he turned down their offer and instead signed for the Brumbies in October 2012.

Whetton comes from a family with a rich rugby tradition. His father Gary played 180 games for Auckland and 58 for the All Blacks and is the chairman of the Blues franchise which made his switch to the Brumbies all the more surprising. His uncle Alan also played 65 tests for the All Blacks and spent 12 years with Auckland.

He is eligible to play for to play international rugby for New Zealand, Germany and Australia. He qualifies for New Zealand through his parents, Germany through birth and for Australia through his grandfather. It has always been the wish of his grandfather for him to wear the green and gold of Australia, which has often caused much friction between the Whetton family at Christmas.

On 2 December 2014, Whetton signed a short-term deal with Leicester Tigers until the end of the season.^[1] On 5 June 2015, Whetton signed for third division French club USO Nevers in Federale 1 during the 2015-16 season.^[2] Whetton returned to England to sign for Yorkshire Carnegie in the RFU Championship on a two-year contract.^[3]

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