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Shane O’Leary is headed back to France. The Canadian international has signed for Pro D2 club Rouen Normandie, whom he will join for the 2020-21 season when the sport resumes.
Rouen are relatively new to professional rugby. Formed in 2009, they reached Fédérale 2 in 2013, winning the Fédérale 1 title in 2019. This past season was their first in the Pro D2. The league currently sits in limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It ends a three-year spell in England for the Ireland-born flyhalf, first with Ealing Trailfinders and then Nottingham. He won the 2018-19 RFU Championship scoring title with the latter. The English second division’s season was cut short last month with Newcastle promoted to the Premiership.
This will be the second French destination for O’Leary. He spent a season with Grenoble, some 700km to the south, before signing for Connacht in 2014. O’Leary would spend three seasons in the Pro 12 before declaring for Canada and making the move to England.
Making his test debut against Georgia in June 2017, the 27-year-old has won 14 caps and was part of Canada’s 2019 World Cup squad though he made just one appearance off the bench against South Africa. O’Leary qualifies for Canada via his mother, a native of New Brunswick.
With O’Leary’s departure following the retirements of Brett Beukeboom and Matt Evans, there are now no Canadian internationals signed to play professionally in England next season. The Championship has traditionally been a home to several, but the success of Major League Rugby has shifted the majority of Canada’s player base to North America.
