Ryan Westren (born 1984) is a Cornish rugby union player who is currently a player-coach at Launceston, where he plays at outside centre. A club legend at Launceston, he previously played professional rugby union with Cornish Pirates and London Scottish, as well as captaining Cornwall in the county championships. His brother, Murray Westren, is also a rugby player, while their father, Phil Westren, played for Cornish Pirates when they were known as Penzance/Newlyn.
Career
Early career
Ryan Western was born in Truro, Cornwall on 26 October 1984 and attended Colston's Collegiate in Bristol between 2001-03. On leaving school he returned to Cornwall to play for Mounts Bay before signing for the Cornish Pirates (then Penzance/Newlyn) in 2004. Westren found chances hard to come by with the Pirates, being limited to just two league appearances (both from the substitutes bench) during the 2005-06 season.
First spell with Launceston
Having struggled for games in Penzance, Westren decided to sign for Launceston for the 2006-07 season, playing a division below the Pirates in National Division Two (third tier). He made his Launceston debut in a 26-15 victory over Henley Hawks at Polson Bridge on 26 September 2006, with his first try for the club following on the 30th of that month, at home against Manchester in a 22-14 win. Westren would go on to feature in 23 league games that season, scoring 3 tries, as his club were promoted in second place behind champions Esher. In achieving promotion to tier 2, the east Cornish club had reached the highest level in the club's history. Due to his performances for Launceston, Westren was called up to the Cornwall senior side taking part in the County Championship Shield (now known as plate) - having been relegated from the top division at the end of the previous championships. He made his debut on 5 May 2007 against Somerset at Bridgwater, scoring a try in a 14-60 defeat. Although Westren would go on to feature in the remaining two pool games (scoring another try), he was unable to help Cornwall to reach the final as they finished second in their group behind Somerset.
The 2007-08 season saw Launceston playing in an extremely strong National One (one division below the Premiership) featuring clubs such as Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs. An un-used substitute for the first game of the campaign - a 12-26 defeat against Cornish Pirates - Westren would go on to play in all of the remaining 29 league matches, scoring 1 try. Although Launceston were competitive in the division, they conceded far too many points, resulting in them finishing in 16th place and being relegated straight back to National Two. Launceston also had a decent run in the EDF Energy Trophy going as far the quarter-finals before losing 3-71 away to Nottingham. The highlight of this cup run was a 61-15 home win against Blackheath, a game in which Westren scored 2 tries. Relegation was tempered by much improve performances by Cornwall in the county championships - Westren playing in all three pool games a scoring a try as his county made the Shield final (and with it promotion to the top division for the following year). Westren started in the final at Twickenham Stadium but was unable to help his team to victory as they went down 11-22 to Northumberland.
Back in tier 3 after just one season, Westren featured regularly for a Launceston side that stabilized themselves in National Two, with a decent ratio of 7 tries from 21 league appearances as his team finished in 7th place. The summer of 2009 would see him recalled by Cornwall, now back in the top tier of county championship rugby, and he played in all three games as his county missed out on a place in the final after losing the last game away to Gloucestershire 14-31. The 2009-10 season saw National Two rebranded as National League 1 due to widespread RFU changes, and Launceston improved to a 3rd-place finish, with Westren getting a career best (so far) 12 tries during the campaign. The summer of 2010 saw a return to county championship rugby, and although Westren was once more involved in all three games, defeats against Devon and Gloucestershire meant that Cornwall had to be content with a third-place finish - safe from relegation but nowhere near to qualifying for the final.
