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| Birth name | Nicholas Timoney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 1 August 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 114.09 kg (251.5 lb; 17 st 13.5 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Blackrock College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Queen's University Belfast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nick Timoney (born 1 August 1995) is an Irish rugby union player, who plays in the back row for Ulster and Ireland. He is regarded as a "hybrid" player, an athletic forward with the pace of a back. [3] He was named in the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship Dream Team. [4]
In his youth, Timoney played number eight for Blackrock College in Dublin, helping his team win the 2013 Leinster Schools Senior Cup, and captaining his school during the successful 2014 season. [5] [6] He then played for St Mary's RFC in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. [7] He played for Leinster's age-grade teams up to under-20 level, and won eight caps for the Ireland under-20s, appearing in all three back row positions in the 2015 under-20 Six Nations and the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, but was not offered a place in the Leinster academy. [6] He turned down an offer from Pau in the French Top 14, [3] and joined Ulster's academy on a two-year contract ahead of the 2015–16 season. [6] He made his first senior start towards the end of the 2016–17 season, [8] with director of rugby Les Kiss remarking that he had had a "very good year". [9] He played as a forward for the Ireland national rugby sevens team that played in the 2017 Sevens Grand Prix Series and took first place in the 2017 Moscow Sevens. [10]
He made 20 appearances for Ulster in the 2017–18 season, scoring five tries and making 222 tackles, [11] and was named Young Player of the Year and Academy Player of the Year in the Ulster Rugby Awards. [12] He was awarded his first senior contract in February 2018. [13] In the 2018–19 season he made 27 appearances, and was the team's leading tackler with 303. [14] In the 2020–21 season he made 17 appearances, making 212 tackles and 13 turnovers. [15] After Marcell Coetzee's departure in March, he became the team's regular number eight, [3] and was named Rugby Writers' Player of the Year in the Ulster Rugby Awards. [16] In June 2021 he was called up to the senior Ireland squad for the Summer tests, [17] and scored a try in his debut in a 71–10 victory over the United States on 10 July. [18]
In the 2021–22 season, with the arrival of South African number eight Duane Vermeulen, he has primarily played at openside flanker. [19] He captained Ulster for the first time on 20 February 2022 in an away win against Scarlets, [20] and made his 100th appearance for the province in the second leg of the Champions Cup round of 16 tie against Toulouse in April the same year. [21] He led the United Rugby Championship in tackles with 274, 64 ahead of Ulster teammate Alan O'Connor in second place. [22] He also led the European Rugby Champions Cup in tackles at the end of the pool stage with 78, [23] and was nominated for Ulster's men's player of the year award. [24] He was called up to the Ireland squad for their 2022 tour of New Zealand [25] and their two-match tour of South Africa in July 2024. [26] He made his 150th appearance for Ulster against Connacht in October 2024. [27]
