MULLINGAR native Seán O'Brien has spoken about his desire to make a mark on English champions Exeter Chiefs having confirmed his move this morning.

The 23-year-old has already left Connacht to begin life at the 2020 European Cup winners where he is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Irishman Ian Whitten who has spent a decade in the Devon club's midfield.

O'Brien has been in impressive form for Connacht this season, but he is excited about the next couple of years in England.

“It’s a great new challenge for me,” he said.

“I’ve had a great spell there, but now is the time for me to go and test myself in the Premiership.

“Exeter are a club who have been winning trophies, they play a great brand of rugby and the culture here looks great, who wouldn’t want to join them?

“It’s good to get to know the place, the people, the calls, that way I can hit the ground running in pre-season.

“Coming over here is obviously going to be a different challenge, the league looks a lot more physical and faster, plus there are more international players playing each week, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Along with the now retired Gareth Steenson who is part of the backroom team at Exeter, Whitten has been a driving force in the club's rise.

“He’s a legend over in these parts,” he said.

“He took a chance coming over here and Exeter took a chance on him, but he’s been part of this side for a long time and won trophies with the club. Hopefully, I can do the same.”

Chiefs’ Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter is delighted to land a player of O'Brien's calibre.

“Obviously, we are always on the look out for talented, young players and recruitment is an ongoing process," he said.

"Looking at our squad going forward - and the positions where you could potentially need cover - you could see potential around that midfield area for us to get a bit light.

“That said, I think Seán is one of those players who can push for a place straight away. We’ve seen quite a lot of him when he broke into the Connacht first team and he looks to me - when I code out the games - a player who has a lot of the characteristics that we look for in our players. 

“He’s a very good defender, deceptively quick, strong on the ball and when you break his game down, it’s actually very pleasing. He’s also in that right age range, early 20s, so he is one of those recruitment positions that kind of work all ways round for us.

“The last guy we brought from Ireland similarly was Ian Whitten and you look at how good he has been for us, the amount of games he’s played, and what an important figure he has been at the club, so there were a lot of reasons we went for a guy like Sean.

"He ticks a lot of boxes and I’m just really glad we can get him here early, bedded in, and starting that process of becoming an Exeter Chief.”