Cousin of TV star and ex-international Ugo Monye signs for world-famous club

Former Wasps academy and GB 7s player, Olise Monye, has signed for the world-famous London Welsh ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Monye, a pacy scrum-half, is the cousin of former Lions and England international and Harlequins legend, Ugo Monye, who has carved out a successful career as a TV presenter since retiring from the game.

The former Oratory School pupil, who has a Law degree, made three Cup appearances for Wasps in the 2021/22 season before representing Great Britain on the Rugby Europe 7s circuit.

Monye, 23, had a spell in National League One with Rams Rugby and then with Chinnor, but is now part of the squad at London Welsh, a club with a 141-year history.

With its ability to attract players of the calibre of JPR Williams, Mervyn Davies and John Dawes, Welsh was one of the biggest names in club rugby in the 1960s and 1970s.

Once the league system arrived in 1987, the Exiles club spent most of their time in the second tier, but they did have two brief forays in the Premiership before going out of business in 2016.

Starting again at level nine, Welsh worked their way back up the English rugby pyramid, from Herts/Middlesex 1 to the National Leagues, after five promotions in seven seasons.

Monye arrives at Old Deer Park at the start of a new era for the club.

Cai Griffths, the man who oversaw their renaissance, stood down as Director of Rugby at the end of the last campaign, in which Welsh finished ninth in the 14-team National 2 East League.

Jon Shankland has moved from Head of Performance to fill the vacancy, while the coaching team beneath him has been shaken up, including the arrival of two players with Premiership experience – Harlequins flanker Will Evans (forwards and defence) and ex-London Irish forward Mike Willemse (scrum and set-piece).