London Welsh have signed former Worcester Warriors centre Simon Whatling from Championship rivals Cornish Pirates.

Whatling, 24, who can also play fly half, joined the Pirates in 2007 after a three-year spell at Worcester, having played his early rugby with Devizes and Chippenham before joining Bath Rugby Academy.

Whatling has represented England from U16s to U21s level, captaining the U21s in their fifth place play-off against hosts Argentina at the 2005 World Championships.

Having left Sixways for Cambourne, a shoulder injury would restrict Whatling to just six appearances for the Pirates in his first season, and rule him out for over a year. However, he returned last season to make a further 13 appearances for the Cornish side, scoring 33 points.

An accomplished cricketer, Whatling played for Wiltshire Schools and toured the West Indies with the West of England side in 2000, as well as playing Minor Counties cricket at senior level.

“I’m delighted to be joining such a traditional and well known rugby club that is now part of the new professional era,” said Whatling.

“The ambition at London Welsh really appealed to me, while it’s also an exciting challenge for me personally, both in terms of my rugby and moving to a new city.”

“Simon first came to my attention when we lost at home quite heavily to the Cornish Pirates last December,” said London Welsh head coach Danny Wilson. “Their backline played extremely well that day, orchestrated by him, and he had a really good game.

“We’ve brought Simon to the club as a footballing inside centre; a 12 that will really suit the high tempo wider game that we want to play. It’s another really positive signing for the club.”

London Welsh have also confirmed the loan signing of Chris Whitehead in partnership with Wasps.

Ex-Coventry hooker Whitehead, 23, has penned a one-year contract with Wasps, but will be available to London Welsh on a loan basis. He joined Coventry from Bedford Blues in 2007, going onto make 63 appearances and scoring eight tries, and captaining the side for the last five games of the 2008/09 season.

He spent four years at the Leicester Tigers Academy before joining the Blues and going on to make a big impact at Coventry where he was named Players Player of the Season in 2007/08 and Supporters Player of the Season in 2008/09.

Whitehead has gained representative honours with England at U16, U18, U19 and toured with England Counties last summer to the USA and Canada.

“We are fortunate to have a good relationship with Wasps,” said London Welsh head coach Danny Wilson. “Chris has had an extremely good season with Coventry, playing extremely well against us in our two league meetings.

“He’s very mobile, is very involved in loose play, constantly has the ball in his hands and makes good breaks. He’s a good footballing hooker who throws in well and will also suit the style of rugby we want to play.”