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The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns the Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.
Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park from 2013 to 2015 in the League of Ireland while the Markets Field was being redeveloped. The capacity of the stadium is 25,600 following its large-scale redevelopment in 2008.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
Tomás O'Leary is an Irish former rugby union player who played as a scrum-half. O'Leary played most of his career in the United Rugby Championship with Munster, where he was part of the team that won the Heineken Cup in 2006 and again in 2008. He also played in the English Premiership with London Irish, and the Top 14 with Montpellier. Internationally, he represented Ireland, where he was a member of the team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam. Also in 2009, he was selected for the British & Irish Lions, though injury prevented him from touring with the squad. O'Leary retired from professional rugby in July 2017.
Denis Patrick Leamy is an Irish former rugby union player who is currently part of the coaching team with Munster. He was a back-row forward who could play either flanker or at number 8, and occasionally played at centre. He ended his club rugby career for Munster in the Pro12 and Heineken Cup, and internationally for Ireland. He officially announced his retirement in May 2012 due to a long-standing hip injury.
Peter Clohessy is an Irish former rugby union player, who played for Munster, Queensland Reds and Ireland. He played as a prop and was known by his fans as "The Claw". He played most of his career at tighthead prop but later switched to loosehead.
Alan Quinlan is a retired Irish rugby union player. He played for Munster and was registered to All-Ireland League side Shannon. He retired from rugby in May 2011.
Tony Buckley is a former Irish rugby union player who played Prop. He was one of the heaviest men playing professional rugby, weighing in at 21 st 10 lbs or 138 kilograms (305 lbs). He wore size 16 boots which had to be custom made for him in Germany. He joined Sale Sharks on a 3-year deal from the 2011/12 season.
Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane was a Gaelic footballer and a rugby union footballer who played for Ireland and the British & Irish Lions.
Frank Murphy is a former professional rugby union player from Ireland who works as a referee for the Irish Rugby Football Union. He primarily played as a scrum-half. Originally from Cork, Murphy played for his native province of Munster before moving to the English side Leicester Tigers.
Peter Bracken is a rugby union coach and former player and retired cage fighter. He played as a prop, primarily at tighthead.
Declan Kidney is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year award. He was also the head coach at Munster, leading them to four Heineken Cup finals, winning twice in 2006 and 2008. He was recently Director of Rugby at London Irish.
The Rugby Players Ireland is the representative body for professional rugby players in Ireland. Founded in October 2001, its aims are to promote and protect the welfare of professional rugby players in Ireland. The Chief Executive Officer is Simon Keogh and Rob Kearney is its current chairman. Its headquarters are in Clonskeagh in Dublin.
Peter James O'Mahony is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Munster and the Ireland national team.
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John Lacey is a former Ireland A and Ireland Sevens rugby union international and current rugby union referee. As a player, Lacey spent most of career with Shannon in the All-Ireland League. He also represented Munster. As an international referee he has taken charge of matches in the Six Nations Championship, the Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup. He also refereed the 2013 Pro12 Grand Final and the 2015–16 and 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup finals.
The All-Ireland Cup, also known as the Bateman Cup, is a knock-out competition for the winners of the four provincial rugby union cups in Ireland.
Andrew Brace is a rugby union referee and former player. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Brace represents the Irish Rugby Football Union as a referee, and was an international player for Belgium. He has refereed matches in the Pro14, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and the European Rugby Champions Cup. In 2017 he began refereeing test matches. He has been married to his childhood sweetheart for over 10 years, Amanda Brace. He describes his relationship as ‘the best thing that’s ever happened to him, second only to refereeing.’
Joy Neville is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ireland team to defeat France. In 2013 she was also a member of the first Ireland women's team to win the Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles.
The 2020–21 PRO14 was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the PRO14.
References
- 1 2 "Peter Fitzgibbon Official summary". European Rugby Cup . Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- 1 2 "Irish Rugby : Referees". Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- ↑ http://www.irishrugby.ie/tagrugby/15242_20374.php%5B%5D
- ↑ "Munster Association of Referees I.R.F.U." Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010.