Less than a month after captaining the Barbarians against Ireland in Thomond Park, retired rugby star Shane Jennings is set to tackle a new career in the property industry.

The former Leinster and Ireland player has been appointed director of business development with Sherry FitzGerald Countrywide, the franchise arm of Sherry FitzGerald.

His appointment comes following a number of months with the agency on an executive work placement programme organised by the Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association (IRUPA).

The collective voice of professional rugby players in Ireland, IRUPA set up the mentoring programme to help its members transition into retirement from playing and to establish new careers for themselves after hanging up their boots.

The 13-times capped international flanker, who represented his province 205 times over two spells, is one of the first successes of the programme having only retired from the game on May 28th.

Commenting on his appointment, Jennings said: “I am looking forward to joining Sherry FitzGerald.

“As I got to know and understand more about the franchise business, I could see there is a strong existing foundation of excellent members. I’m excited to learn more and add value to the next phase of development.”

During his work placement with Sherry FitzGerald, which commenced last year, Shane continued to play competitive rugby at the highest level and completed his MBA.

He joins the group officially in November and will work under managing director of Sherry FitzGerald Countrywide Mary Dillon.

His key responsibilities will be to work with the franchise network and to support overall business development throughout the group.