The Utah Warriors have signed Josh Whippy for a second Major League Rugby season. The 28-year-old fullback/wing is 6’2″ and 215 lbs.
Josh’s and his twin brother Jared suffered broken legs in successive weeks for the Warriors in 2018. Both have since recovered and will look to get back to the form that made them key team contributors.
Whippy grew up in Suva, Fiji and moved to New Zealand where he played both basketball and rugby at Rangitoto College, and Church College of New Zealand. In his senior year in high school, Josh spent a season in Utah with United, helping them win their first National Championship beating Highland in 2010.
In 2011 Whippy joined the Brigham Young University squad, but his freshman season was cut short with injury. Joshua then went on a two-year mission to the Republic of Kiribati. His first assignment was on the outer island of Aranuka. After six months he was reunited with his brother Jared to serve on South Tarawa.
After serving on the mission, Josh returned to BYU to play both football and rugby. In the latter, he was instrumental in gaining National Championships. He also received USA Rugby All-American honors in 2014 and 2015.
Most recently, Josh has been a part of the Utah Select 7s team that won back to back National Club 7s titles and was named team MVP for the 2017 season.
In October, Josh went to Montevideo, Uruguay with the USA Rugby Men’s Selects. for the Americas Pacific Challenge. He started at wing against Uruguay A and scored a try in helping the Selects gain a victory. He also started the concluding match win against Canada A. The 2017 season culminated with his selection for the Eagles European tour to Germany and Georgia.
Josh made his debut for the Eagles against Canada on February 10, 2018, in the Americas Rugby Championship. He played the last of his 4 matches against Uruguay on March 3, 2018.
When Josh is is top form, he is a dangerous runner from either the wing or at fullback. The Utah Warriors missed his presence after he was injured in 2018. They hope to see him evading defenders and scoring tries for the team in 2019.
Other Articles
DJCoil Rugby articles by Doug Coil are also available on Facebook. Other Social Media sites to follow or subscribe include Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for interviews.
