Canadians making their presence felt at English rugby club side London Irish

It goes by the name of London Irish but the English rugby club is home to players from Australia, England, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga and Wales as well as Ireland.

And Ciaran Hearn and Jebb Sinclair make it two from Canada.

Both men used stellar performances at the Rugby World Cup to earn their pro contracts overseas.

Sinclair, a 29-year-old back-rower from Fredericton, joined the Aviva Premiership team after the 2011 World Cup. Hearn, a 30-year-old back from Conception Bay, N.L. who makes his home in Victoria, joined after turning heads at last fall’s World Cup.

Sinclair, who spent time in 2012 on loan with South Africa’s Stormers, signed a two-year contract extension with the club Jan. 20. The six-foot-five 254-pound forward has made 78 appearances for London Irish and won 42 caps for Canada.

London Irish currently stands 11th in the 12-team English league with a 2-7-0 record and appears destined to duel Newcastle to see who avoids relegation. The team is having more success in the European Challenge Cup where it is scheduled to play England’s Harlequins in the quarter-finals in April.

Because of his mid-season arrival, Hearn is not part of Irish’s European Cup roster.

The six-foot-two 220-pounder made his league debut against Harlequins on Dec. 5 and opened his scoring account Jan. 2 with an elegant, slashing run for a try in a loss to Gloucester.

“It’s nice to play a competitive game every week,” said Hearn, who has won 49 caps for Canada. “It’s a shame I’m not registered for the European games but every chance I get to be in the team, I’m just relishing it.”

The better the opposition, the better it is, says Hearn.

“It’s good to push yourself all the time and always challenge yourself,” he said.

London Irish practise in Sunbury, southwest of London near Twickenham, and play their games at Reading’s Madejski Stadium, some 60 kilometres west of the capital.

“Reading is a little far but it’s a beautiful stadium to play in … the turf is always up to spec so it’s pretty nice to play in,” Hearn said.

Hearn was relaxing in Paris after the World Cup when he got a call from his agent that London Irish was interested. Two weeks after returning from France, he had a contract sent to him.

“It was kind of quick but it was nice,” he said. “It was good to get it done and it was a surprise for sure, for me.”

He packed a single suitcase and returned to Europe.

“I’m not living off a lot of clothes but I don’t need a lot of clothes to live. I’m not that crazy about fashion and stuff like that,” he said with a laugh.

His contract runs through the end of the season.

“That will take care of itself at the end,” he said. “Right now I’m just worried about my playing and how I’m helping the team.”

Getting a pro deal from a Tier 2 country is not easy, with rules making it easier to sign players from Tier 1 countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Hearn will be heading back to North America when London Irish play Saracens on March 12 in a one-off at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

London Irish plays at Sale on Saturday. Hearn has been named to the starting 15 while Sinclair will be on the bench.

Sale is home to Canadian international back Phil Mackenzie, who was recently named to Canada’s Americas Rugby Championship squad.

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