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Birth name | Keith Gerard Mallinson Wood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 27 January 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 106 kg (16 st 10 lb; 234 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | St Munchin's College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Gordon Wood (father) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Keith Wood (born 27 January 1972) is an Irish former rugby union player who played as a hooker at international level for Ireland, and the British & Irish Lions. He also played at club level for Garryowen, Harlequins and Munster. He was nicknamed 'The Raging Potato' because of his bald head, and as 'Uncle Fester' due to his resemblance to the character in The Addams Family . [1] Wood is considered by many to have been the best hooker in rugby union during his era, winning the inaugural World Rugby Player of the Year award, and to be among the best hookers in the history of the game. [2] [3] [4]
Wood was born in Killaloe, County Clare, and educated at St Munchin's College, Limerick. His father, Gordon Wood, played prop 29 times for Ireland.
Wood started his career with Garryowen who he helped to All Ireland titles in 1992 and 1994 before moving to Harlequins. He returned to play with Munster in the 1999–2000 season and played in the European Rugby Cup final that Munster lost to Northampton Saints 9-8 in Twickenham Stadium before returning to Harlequins.
Having returned to Harlequins in 2000 he started the 2000–01 Challenge Cup final beating Narbonne 42–33 in the final helping the club to become the first English club ever to win the tournament. [5]
Wood made his international debut in 1994 against Australia. He was capped 58 times for Ireland and five times for the Lions. Never the most accurate player in the set piece his real strength was in leadership and open play where he dominated the world XV's hooker spot.
He played on the 1997 and 2001 Lions tours, and was the inaugural winner of the IRB International Player of the Year award in 2001. He played a part in the Lions' 2-1 series victory over the Springboks in 1997. Wood captained Ireland.
He scored four tries in one game in the 1999 World Cup, in the pool stage against the USA. Ireland were later eliminated from the tournament when they lost to Argentina in the quarter-final play-off.
Wood retired from playing after the 2003 World Cup. He was succeeded as Ireland captain by Brian O'Driscoll.
IRB player of the Year - 2001
European Challenge Cup - 2001
Wood was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2005, [6] and to the IRB Hall of Fame in 2014. [7]
Wood's total of 15 full international test tries was, at his international retirement, the record for a hooker, or indeed any player in the tight five. The previous record for international tries by hookers (or players at any position in the tight five) was 12, set by Sean Fitzpatrick of the New Zealand All Blacks. Wood's record has since been beaten for tight-five players by current USA front-rower Joe Taufete'e. [8] Taufete'e to date has scored 22 tries as a hooker and one as a prop. [9]
Wood has appearances on the BBC as a regular pundit and in The Daily Telegraph as a freelance journalist.
Wood used to play hurling, and was a member of the Clare GAA side that played in the inaugural Nenagh Co-op hurling tournament in 1988. In 2018, Wood opened a café and restaurant on the main street in his native Killaloe with business partner Malcolm Bell, called Wood & Bell. [10]
Brian Gerard O'Driscoll is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the British & Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand. He is regarded by critics as one of the greatest rugby players of all time.
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs. In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players".
St. Munchin's College is a boys–only Roman Catholic secondary school in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded by The Most Reverend John Young, Bishop of Limerick in 1796. As of January 2020, a total of 657 boys were enrolled at St. Munchin's College.
Garryowen Football Club, usually referred to as Garryowen, is a rugby union club from Limerick, Ireland. As at the 2024–25 season, it plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. Historically, Garryowen has been one of the most successful clubs in Irish rugby union.
Daniel Stuart Care is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and the England national team.
Jeremiah Paul Flannery is an Irish rugby union former player and current coach. During his playing career, Flannery, a hooker, played for Munster and Ireland, before being forced to retire in March 2012 due to injury problems. He joined Munster as a coach before leaving in 2019, and, in 2020, joined English Premiership club Harlequins as their lineout coach.
Jeremy Staunton is an Irish rugby union fly-half and Fullback, having retired in 2012 while playing for English club Leicester Tigers in the top level of English rugby, the English Premiership. He has also played at every level for Ireland.
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Ugochukwu Chiedozie Monye is an English sports pundit and former rugby union player, Monye played 14 times for England, 241 times for his only club Harlequins and played twice for the British & Irish Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa. Monye won both the second division and then the Premiership title with Harlequins, as well as winning the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
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Keith Gerard Earls is an Irish former rugby union player who played as a wing for United Rugby Championship club Munster and the Ireland national team. He retired following the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Benjamin Gordon Malison Wood was a rugby union footballer who represented Ireland and the British and Irish Lions during the 1950s and early 1960s. He also played for both Garryowen and Munster. His son Keith Wood would later play for the same four teams.
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Joseph Soosemea Taufeteʻe is an American rugby union player who plays as a hooker and prop for the Houston SaberCats in Major League Rugby (MLR). A converted American football player, Taufeteʻe has also previously represented the United States by serving as captain of the USA Selects. He also plays for the United States national team.
Tom Eymard Reid was a rugby union player from Limerick, Ireland who played in the lock position. O'Connor played club rugby with Garryowen and London Irish, was capped thirteen times for Ireland, and was a member of the British and Irish Lions team that toured in 1955.
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