Tom Stewart (rugby union)

Last updated

Tom Stewart
Date of birth (2001-01-11) 11 January 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight103 kg (227 lb; 16 st 3 lb)
School Belfast Royal Academy
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Current team Ulster
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2021– Ulster 46 (135)
Correct as of 8 June 2024
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2020 Ireland U20 2 (0)
2022 Emerging Ireland 2 (0)
2023– Ireland 2 (0)
Correct as of 26 August 2023

Tom Stewart (born 11 January 2001) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for United Rugby Championship club Ulster and for the Ireland national rugby union team. [1]

Contents

Youth

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Stewart attended Belfast Royal Academy and was named Ulster Schools Player of the Year in 2019, [2] and captained Ulster at under 18 level. [3] He joined the Ulster Rugby academy in June 2019. [3] He was named in the Ireland squad for the 2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, starting in the wins against Scotland [4] and Wales [5] before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] In January 2021 he signed a one-year development contract with Ulster, intended to be upgraded to a senior professional contract for the 2022–23 season. [7]

Career

Stewart was named in the Ulster Rugby senior squad for the 2021–22 season, [8] and made his senior debut off the bench in an away defeat to Ospreys on 4 December 2021. [9] He scored his first try in a 48-12 home victory against Cardiff on 4 March 2022. [10] He was selected for the Emerging Ireland squad for the Toyota Challenge in South Africa in September 2022. [11]

After scoring 7 tries in 11 appearances for Ulster in the 2022–23 season, he was called up to the Ireland squad for the 2023 Six Nations Championship, as cover for the injured Rónan Kelleher. [12] That year Stewart would go on to break the United Rugby Championship single season try-scoring record, with his second hat trick of the year in a victory over Dragons, bringing his season tally to 16 tries. [13] This beat the 14 scored by Edinburgh's Tim Visser in 2010-11 and the Cheetahs' Rabz Maxwane in 2018-19, and earned him the URC's Top Try Scorer award. [14] He also won the URC's Next-Gen Player of the Season award for players under 23 who have fewer than five international caps. [15] He was called up to Ireland's preliminary 42-man squad ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, [16] made his international debut off the bench in the warm-up game against Italy on 5 August 2023, [17] and his first international start on 26 August against Samoa. [18]

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The 2021–22 season was Ulster Rugby's 28th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's fourth season as head coach. They competed in the inaugural United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

The 2022–23 season was Ulster Rugby's 29th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union. They competed in the United Rugby Championship, finishing second in the league table and going out in the quarter-finals, and the European Rugby Champions Cup going out in the round of 16. It was Dan McFarland's fifth season as head coach. Scrum-half John Cooney was leading scorer with 154 points. Hooker Tom Stewart was leading try scorer with 17, and won the URC Top Try Scorer and Next-Gen Player of the Season awards.

The 2023–24 season was Ulster Rugby's 30th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union. They competed in the United Rugby Championship the European Rugby Champions Cup, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. It was Dan McFarland's sixth season as head coach. Despite some good results, including a home win against Racing 92 in the Champions Cup and an away win against Leinster in the URC, Ulster slipped back in the league, and poor performances against Bath, Harlequins and Toulouse dumped them out of the Champions Cup. After an away defeat in the URC against Ospreys in February, McFarland left his position, replaced by former Ireland under-20 head coach Richie Murphy. CEO Jonny Petrie also left, replaced on an interim basis by Hugh McCaughey. Murphy oversaw two away losses in South Africa and a quarter-final exit in the Challenge Cup, but form improved in the league, with four straight wins, including a home win against Leinster, and a losing bonus point away to Munster secured a quarter-final place, losing away to a full-strength Leinster side, and qualification for next season's Champions Cup.

References

  1. ↑ Playing stats at ItsRugby.co.uk
  2. ↑ Sam Smith, "Wallaby Carter among three re-ups at Ulster", RugbyPass.com, 29 January 2021
  3. 1 2 "Five New Entrants In Ulster Rugby Academy", IrishRugby.ie, 20 June 2019
  4. ↑ "Six-Try Triumph Gets Ireland Under-20s Off To Encouraging Start", IrishRugby.ie, 31 January 2020
  5. ↑ "Four-Try First Half Does The Damage For Ireland Under-20s", IrishRugby.ie, 7 February 2020
  6. ↑ No Winner for U20 Six Nations as Championship Cancelled, Six Nations Rugby, 5 August 2020
  7. ↑ "Ulster: Sam Carter and Michael Lowry extend contracts by two years as Tom Stewart gets upgraded deal", BBC Sport, 29 January 2021
  8. ↑ Gareth Fullerton, "Ulster Rugby squad 2021/22 confirmed for new season", Belfast Live, 21 July 2021
  9. ↑ Paul McIntyre, "McFarland rues missed opportunities as Ulster fall to defeat against Ospreys", Irish News, 6 December 2021
  10. ↑ Simon Thomas, "Ulster 48-12 Cardiff: Welsh region leak seven tries as they are routed in Belfast", Wales Online, 4 March 2022
  11. ↑ "Emerging Ireland Squad Named For Toyota Challenge In Bloemfontein", Irish Rugby, 14 September 2022
  12. ↑ Gerry Thornley, "Ulster hooker Tom Stewart joins Ireland squad after Kelleher injury", The Irish Times, 30 January 2023
  13. ↑ "United Rugby Championship: Tom Stewart breaks try-scoring record as Ulster, Sharks and Glasgow Warriors win". Planet Rugby. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Tom Stewart named OFX Top Try Scorer in the 2022/23 United Rugby Championship Awards", United Rugby, 2 May 2023
  15. ↑ "Ulster's Tom Stewart wins Next-Gen Player of the Season accolade", The42, 10 May 2023
  16. ↑ Josh Graham, "Ireland Rugby World Cup squad 2023 – Farrell names 42 players", Rugby World, 30 May 2023
  17. ↑ "Ireland 33-17 Italy: Grand Slam winners begin World Cup warm-up series with solid home win", BBC Sport, 5 August 2023
  18. ↑ "Ireland 17-13 Samoa: Cian Healy injured as Irish sign off before World Cup with win", BBC Sport, 26 August 2023
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