London Irish sign Ben White, the youngster player in Leicester's Premiership history

London Irish have completed the signing of scrum-half Ben White. The 23-year-old, who left Leicester Tigers at the end of the 2020/21 season, has put pen to paper on a deal with the Exiles and will link up with his new teammates in pre-season next month.

White made history when he became the youngest player in Leicester's Premiership history when he came off the bench against Harlequins in September 2016, aged just 17 years and 151 days.

He made nine appearances in all competitions for the Tigers last term, having clocked up over 50 in the previous two campaigns, and he has now expressed his delight at agreeing to a deal with the Exiles.

“I’m really excited to be here," said White after clinching his Irish deal. "I feel this is just the kind of fresh challenge I need at this stage of my career. There is a really talented group here and I can’t wait to get going with the boys in pre-season.”

London Irish boss Declan Kidney added: “We are delighted to welcome Ben to the club. He’s a really promising scrum-half, with great experience despite his age. We want to develop a group of young scrum-halves under the mentorship of Nick Phipps to bring the club forward. Ben knows a good few of the boys already from their time together with England U20s. We’re excited about getting to work with him in pre-season.”

The signing of White comes just days after the London club announced the names of the nine players who are leaving following the completion of the 2020/21 campaign. That list was headed by ex-All Blacks winger Waisake Naholo, the 30-year-old who played 26 times for New Zealand between 2015 and 2018.

The eight other players are on the list of departures were retiring duo Theo Brophy-Clews and Tom Homer, Harry Elrington, Nic Groom, Charlton Kerr, Andrei Mahu, Motu Matu’u and Vladimir Podrezov.