Date of birth | 11 April 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place of birth | Galway, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 100 kg (16 st; 220 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | The Jes/Colaiste Iognaid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cathal Forde (born 11 April 2001) is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for United Rugby Championship side Connacht. He plays as a centre or fly-half. [1]
Forde was educated at The Jes/Colaiste Iognaid, Galway, playing rugby for their Junior & Senior Rugby Teams. [2] Post school, he continued to play for the local club (where he first played Rugby) Galway Corinthians RFC, in the AIL, where he was named AIL Division 2B player of the season for 2021/2022. [3]
Forde was named as a member of the Connacht academy for the 2021–22 season. [4] He made his debut for Connacht in Round 11 of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship against Glasgow Warriors. [5] He scored his first 2 tries against Cell C Sharks in the Sportsground on January 7, 2023, and was named URC player of the match.
Coláiste Iognáid SJ, a bilingual secondary school, is located on Sea Road in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1645 and has had numerous locations over the years before its current home. The college is a co-educational, non-fee-paying secondary school and one of a number of Jesuit schools in Ireland. There are approximately 600 pupils in the school.
Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht.
The Connacht School's Rugby Senior Cup is an annual rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Connacht Rugby Branch of the IRFU.
The Connacht Schools Junior Challenge Cup is an under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Connacht Branch of the IRFU.
Dexcom Stadium is the home of Connacht Rugby. It opened in 1927 and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches since. Dexcom Stadium is able to hold up to 8,129 people without temporary seating. When greyhound racing takes place at the stadium and adjoining premises, they trade as the Galway Greyhound Stadium.
Daniel Riordan is a rugby union player for Old Belvedere in the All-Ireland League. He began playing rugby at Coláiste Iognáid, where he won a schools' senior cup in 2002 and was on the Connacht Schools team in 2000 and 2001.
Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He was on the Coláiste Iognáid team that won the Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup in 1985. He split his club career between hometown club Galwegians and Lansdowne in Dublin, starting and finishing his career in Galway, with a stint playing with Lansdowne in the 1990s. Elwood earned 35 caps for Ireland, scoring 296 points for the side. He played 168 games for Connacht scoring 1,152 points. He was the first Connacht player to make 100 appearances for the side, while his points tally remained a record until being surpassed by Jack Carty in 2023. Elwood also made a single appearance for international invitational side the Barbarians before being capped by Ireland.
John Muldoon is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the Lineout & Maul coach for Connacht.
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Jack Carty is a rugby union player from Ireland. His primary position is at fly-half. Having started with his hometown club, Buccaneers, Carty currently plays for the team of his native province of Connacht in the United Rugby Championship, having come through the team's academy. He is Connacht's record points scorer in the Pro14, having overtaken Ian Keatley in March 2019. Carty is an Ireland international, having made his debut for the side against Italy in 2019.
Claire Molloy is an Ireland women's rugby union international from Galway. Molloy represented Ireland at the 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. At the 2014 tournament she was a member of the Ireland team that defeated New Zealand and she captained Ireland at the 2017 tournament. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. She is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international and captained the Ireland team at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Molloy also played ladies' Gaelic football for Galway and featured in the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship final.
Sport in Galway includes a diverse heritage, with a history in sports ranging from horse racing, Gaelic games, soccer and rugby to rowing, motorsport, greyhound racing and others. The Galway Races are known worldwide and are the highlight of the Irish horse racing calendar. Over the years it has grown into an annual festival lasting seven days.
Liam Silke is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays at senior level for the Galway county team. He is a nephew of All-Ireland SFC winning Galway captain Ray Silke. Silke plays his club football for Corofin.
Conor McKeon is a rugby union player from Ireland. He primarily played fly-half for most of his youth career, before changing to scrum-half at senior level. McKeon played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14 having come through the team's academy, and played his club rugby for Athlone-based side Buccaneers.
Taine Owen Basham is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.
Ciarán Frawley is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and represents Ireland at international level.