Axed Force hooker Whittaker heads to France
Former Western Force hooker Ben Whittaker, who was cut from the Force squad at the end of this year’s Super Rugby season, has joined French Top 14 club Biarritz.
Whittaker broke his left foot in pre-season training and only added two more caps to the 30 appearances he had made in his previous four seasons.
In April he returned home early from Wellington, where the Force were due to play the Hurricanes, for “personal reasons”.
The former 2006 Australia A Schoolboys representative also played for Australia at the 2009 IRB Junior World Championships.
He has been called into the Biarritz squad after regular rake Arnaud Heguy was hit with a 20-week suspension after being found guilty of threatening a referee.
The French national body Ligue Nationale de Rugby wiped him out until February for "menacing behaviour towards an official" following Biarritz's 24-13 loss to Toulon in August.
The club forwards coach Laurent Rodriguez copped a 12-week ban for "threatening language" while club president and former French legend Serge Blanco has been suspended from all rugby activity for four weeks due to his "indiscipline".
Biarritz, who are at the bottom of the Top 14 ladder with just one win this season, can appeal the sanctions.
