After successful professional career with Ulster Rugby and Exeter Chiefs, Ian Whitten is happy to be back where it all started

The two-time English Premiership and European Champions Cup winner with Exeter Chiefs is back at the club where he started playing mini rugby and where his father John played in the 1980’s.

Aged 36 and after 11 years going toe-to-toe with the best in the game in England and Europe, Whitten still has a huge appetite for rugby.

“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play with my brothers and that is sort of bucket list stuff,” he said. “I’m very lucky after all the Premiership stuff to still be playing and I’m very lucky that they are all still playing too.

“Instonians is where I started. I played mini rugby here, so it is always nice to finish where you started.

“I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Instonians over the years.

"I hated them when I played at Queen’s but now that I’m here it’s a good bunch of coaches and a good bunch of lads and I’m really enjoying.

“I’m not hating it enough to retire yet – I just love playing the game.

"Obviously it is nice to get paid to play and that is a dream come true and it’s your job, but I loved the game first and wanted to do as well in rugby as I could, so on the way down I still love the game.

“At 36, professionally it was getting hard. Maybe I’ll get a couple of years at Inst before it gets too hard, but you are a long time retired.”

Whitten had a few clubs in England and Wales looking to sign him when he left Ulster, but it was Rob Baxter’s vision for Exeter that took him to Sandy Park.

“I joined them two years after they went up (to the Premiership) in 2010,” he added. “Rob Baxter was playing a good brand of rugby and I think they were ahead of teams with the style of rugby they were playing.

“Rob was very good at that stage because he had been through the Championship and picking up players that hadn’t necessarily the opportunity at other clubs.

“He had a very good eye for boys like that who were just looking an opportunity and I was case in point.

“He was very good at giving players the opportunity to start and be part of the main team. It all sort of came together and we had a good run for six years.”

Despite the success they achieved, Whitten feels the talented Exeter squad could have won even more trophies.

“We should have won more finals,” he said. “We were in six finals (Premiership) and years where I thought we were clearly the best team we lost the final and that was frustrating, but we still won it twice and a European Cup so I can’t be too disappointed.

“They had no history at that stage – all their history was in the lower leagues of England.

"There wasn’t a very strong rugby reason to join them. It wasn’t ‘I’m joining one of the biggest clubs in England’ because they weren’t.

“What Exeter were going to give me at the time as opposed to other clubs was, if you talk to Rob, he was straight with you and people in professional rugby because they are managing so many guys aren’t always straight with you.

“I always thought Rob would tell you straight and I thought of all the clubs he was the one that would give me the fairest opportunity to play in the team and he was true to his word.

"That’s all you want as a player – a coach that is going to pick you and give you a fair opportunity. That’s why I joined Exeter.”

Whitten had won two Irish caps but knew going across the Irish Sea and making the move to Devon would probably end his chances of adding to that tally.

“I’m very grateful for the couple of Ireland caps but it probably happened to me too young,” he added. “I think I had eight Ulster caps and two Ireland caps.

"I’m very grateful to Declan Kidney for picking me for that tour.

"Even though all the boys were away with the Lions, to play for Ireland in Canada is always great memories to have.

“I was a centre and I looked at the Irish team and the other centres and I never felt that I am good enough to get picked over them.

“Irish centres have always been strong. I never looked at it and though I should be in there.

“It was different for Steeno (Gareth Steenson) because for a while the number two to (Johnny) Sexton wasn’t clear after O’Gara retired – I always thought they should have looked at him.

“They never needed to look at me. I was playing away, (Brian) O’Driscoll stayed a long time and as soon as he retired you had (Garry) Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw coming through – they were never short.

“That was the nice thing about going to Exeter – it completely removed that distraction.

"I made my bed 11 years ago that I was going to play club rugby and I just cracked on with being a good club player and that worked out well for me.

“I consider myself lucky because there are a few players that leave Ireland and don’t really join a club that can be competitive – I did.

"I joined a club that was going to do something special and it was pure luck as I knew nothing about it, knew nothing about Exeter, knew nothing about English rugby.

“I was going over there thinking maybe I’ll play well for a couple of years and get back to Ireland, but it quickly became I want to stay here because they are onto something good. I feel lucky.”