Related Research Articles
"Ireland's Call" is a song by Phil Coulter used as a national anthem by some sports competitors representing the island of Ireland, originally and most notably the men's rugby union team. It was commissioned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) for the 1995 World Cup, because a substantial minority around 20% of the IRFU's members are from Northern Ireland and the use of the anthem of the Republic of Ireland was considered inappropriate.
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
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.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
Justin Michael Fitzpatrick is an Irish former rugby union player who most recently was head coach of the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for London Irish, Castres Olympique, Dungannon RFC & Ulster. He had also held several other coaching positions, including head coach of Dungannon RFC and the Seattle Saracens, and assistant coach of the United States national rugby union team.
The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Women's European Championship. Ireland won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. In 2013 they also achieved both a Triple Crown and Grand Slam. They finished fourth in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup after defeating New Zealand in the pool stages. Ireland hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. The team was originally organised by the Irish Women's Rugby Football Union. However, since 2009 it has been organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union
Declan Kidney is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year award. He was also the head coach at Munster, leading them to four Heineken Cup finals, winning twice in 2006 and 2008. He was recently Director of Rugby at London Irish.
Phillip Michael Matthews is a former Ireland rugby union international. He was a member of the Ireland team that won the 1985 Five Nations Championship and the Triple Crown. He represented Ireland at the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups. He also played for both the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians. He captained both Ireland and the Barbarians. He subsequently served as a rugby union co-commentator with BBC Sport and TV3. Between 2010 and 2016 he served as the President of the National College of Ireland. His daughter, Hannah Matthews, is an Ireland women's field hockey international and played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final.
Felix Jones is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He played primarily as a fullback, but could also play on the wing. In October 2015, Jones was forced to retire from rugby due to a neck injury. He moved into coaching after retiring from playing, and is currently Defence coach with the England national team. He is the great grandson of Alfred Edwin Jones.
Gert Petrus Smal is a former South African rugby union player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top League team Toyota Verblitz.
Josef Schmidt HonFRCSI is a New Zealand and Irish rugby union coach, who currently serves as the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team.
The Ireland women's national rugby sevens team participates in international competitions such as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens and Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics. Unlike the Ireland women's national rugby union team, the sevens team is a professional team with players contracted to the Irish Rugby Football Union.
John Paul "JP" Doyle is an Irish born rugby union referee. Doyle was one of ten full-time rugby union referees employed by the English Rugby Football Union until his redundancy in August 2020. In 2021, he was a referee in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States. In 2022, he was named high performance referee coach by Scottish Rugby Union.
Fiona Coghlan is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Coghlan represented Ireland at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cups. She also captained the Ireland team that won the 2013 Women's Six Nations Championship. In 2013 Coghlan was named The Irish Times / Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year after captaining Ireland to their first ever Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles. Coghlan was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat France, England and New Zealand. She was the Ireland captain on the latter two occasions. In addition to captaining Ireland, Coghlan also captained her club team, UL Bohemians, her provincial team, Leinster and was captain of the first ever Barbarians women's team.
Nora Stapleton is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Stapleton represented Ireland at the 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. Stapleton was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat both England and New Zealand. Stapleton has also played two other football codes at a senior level. As a women's association football player, she played for UCD in FAI Women's Cup finals and UEFA Women's Cup campaigns. She has also played senior ladies' Gaelic football for Donegal.
Sophie Spence is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Spence represented Ireland at the 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. Spence was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat England and New Zealand. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. Spence is a British Nigerian who qualified to represent Ireland through her mother, who was originally from Lisburn, County Antrim.
The history of the Ireland national rugby union team began in 1875, when Ireland played its first international match, a 0–7 loss against England. Ireland has competed in the Six Nations rugby tournament since 1883. Ireland has also competed at the Rugby World Cup every four years since its inception.
Joy Neville is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ireland team to defeat France. In 2013 she was also a member of the first Ireland women's team to win the Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles.
Sene Naoupu is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Naoupu was a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. She also represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. Naoupu is a Samoan New Zealander who originally emigrated to Ireland in 2009 with her former husband, George Naoupu, the former Highlanders, Harlequins and Connacht rugby union player. Naoupu is also a lifestyle coach and fitness trainer and operates her own business, Senshaper. In 2016, Naoupu was listed by The Irish Times as one of the thirty most influential women in Ireland.
Hannah Tyrrell is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Tyrrell represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was also a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. Tyrrell is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. She has also played two other football codes at a senior level. As a women's association football player, Tyrrell played for St Catherine's in two FAI Women's Cup finals and played for Shamrock Rovers in the Women's National League. She also plays senior Ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin in the Ladies' National Football League.
References
- ↑ Brendan Cole, rte.ie (17 March 2013). "Italy 3-6 Ireland" . Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ↑ IRB.com (1 May 2014). "Ireland women to seek "another level"". Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ↑ breakingnews.ie (12 August 2014). "Ireland's All Black conquerors named for England clash" . Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ↑ thescore.ie (17 August 2014). "Doyle steps away hoping to see IRFU drive women's rugby forward". Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ↑ BBC Sport (2 July 2014). "Philip Doyle to stand down as Irish women's team coach" . Retrieved 21 September 2014.