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Birth name | Alan O'Connor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 10 September 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 111 kg (17 st 7 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University College Dublin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | David O'Connor (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alan O'Connor (born 10 September 1992) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays lock for Ulster. He was Ulster's player of the year in 2020–21, and won the United Rugby Championship's Tackle Machine award for 2021–22.
A native of Skerries, Dublin, [3] he played club rugby for Skerries RFC until he was eighteen, then for University College Dublin R.F.C. for two years, and was part of Leinster's sub-academy. [4] He appeared for the Ireland under-20s in the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship, bringing him to the attention of Allen Clarke, who signed him for Ulster's academy. [3] He made 13 appearances for the senior Ulster team while still an academy player, making his debut against Leinster in December 2012. He was awarded the Jack Kyle Bursary by the Ulster Rugby Supporters Club for the 2014–15 season, and signed a development contract in March 2015, moving to a full senior contract for the 2016–17 season. [5]
He made 14 starts in the 2016–17 season, winning 48 lineouts, third on the team behind Iain Henderson and Franco van der Merwe. [6] In the 2017–18 season he made 24 appearances and led the team with 226 tackles, [7] and captained the side for the first time against the Southern Kings in February 2018. [8] In the 2018–19 season he made 25 appearances and 265 tackles. [9] He made his 100th appearance for Ulster against Leinster in December 2019. [3] He made 23 appearances and led the team in tackles with 242 during the 2020–21 season, [10] and was named Ulster's Player of the Year at the 2021 Ulster Rugby Awards. [11] He made his 150th appearance against the Stormers in March 2022. [12] He won the URC Tackle Machine award for the 2021-22 season, after making 195 tackles with a 97.5% success rate. [13]
Ulster forwards coach Roddy Grant has praised him for his leadership, intelligence and toughness: "He’s a pleasure to coach, a real treat to have in your forward pack. He’s just so consistent. He’s really intelligent, reads the game well. He speaks well in terms of the leadership role when he needs to speak tactically, he runs the lineout incredibly well, he’s very good at leading a lineout defence and maul; he’s a proper tough player ... You hear him before the game in the dressing room and it gives me goosebumps." [14]
His younger brother David O'Connor also plays lock for Ulster, having been signed from Lansdowne ahead of the 2019–20 season. [15]
Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
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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 2020-21 season was Ulster's 27th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's third season as head coach. Iain Henderson was captain. They competed in the Pro14, the Pro14 Rainbow Cup, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
The 2019–20 season was Ulster's 26th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's second season as head coach. Lock Iain Henderson was named captain in place of retired hooker Rory Best. They competed in the Pro14 and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Both competitions were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, he later stages being played in August, September and October 2020. In the Pro14, Ulster finished second in Conference A, making the playoffs and qualifying for next season's Champions Cup. They beat Edinburgh in the semi-final, but lost to Leinster in the final. They finished second in Pool 3 in the Champions Cup, qualifying for the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by Toulouse.
The 2018-19 season was Ulster's 25th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and Dan McFarland's first season as head coach. Rory Best was captain. They competed in the Pro14, making the semi-finals, and the European Rugby Champions Cup, making the quarter-finals.
The 2016–17 season was Ulster's 23rd season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union, and the third under Director of Rugby Les Kiss and head coach Neil Doak. They completed in the European Rugby Champions Cup and the final season of the Pro12 before it became the Pro14 with the addition of two teams from South Africa.
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.