Ruth O'Reilly

Last updated

Ruth O'Reilly
Date of birth (1981-08-12) 12 August 1981 (age 42)
Place of birth Tralee, Republic of Ireland
Occupation(s)Marketing manager
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2002–2017 Galwegians ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2012–17 Ireland 16

Ruth O'Reilly (born 12 August 1981) is a retired women's rugby union player from Tralee, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. She played as a prop for Galwegians RFC, Connacht Rugby and the Ireland women's national rugby union team. [1]

Contents

Career

O'Reilly started playing rugby in 2002. [2] In 2014, she captained Galwegians to victory in the Women's All Ireland League. [1] She also became an assistant coach for Connacht Ladies and the manager of the Ireland women's Under-17 rugby sevens team. [3]

International career

O'Reilly made her debut for Ireland in 2012. [2] During this same year, she was part of the Ireland women's team that missed a connection and spent 17 hours on an overnight train travelling from Paris to Pau for a Women's Six Nations Championship match against the France women's national rugby union team, arriving only shortly before the match. [4] In 2017, she was selected as part of Ireland's team for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup hosted in Ireland. During the tournament, Ireland failed to reach the semi-finals and O'Reilly was forced to leave the team due to injury. [5] Before Ireland's seventh place playoff, she wrote an article published in The Irish Times criticising the Irish Rugby Football Union for a lack of support of women's rugby and the Ireland manager Tom Tierney for having "lost the dressing room". [2] Following Ireland's loss in the playoff in Belfast, Northern Ireland; fellow player Lindsay Peat defended O'Reilly for writing the article after criticism that it was O'Reilly's article that caused Ireland's loss. [6] O'Reilly retired from rugby afterwards. [7]

Personal life

O'Reilly originally worked as a marketing manager at a hotel before moving in 2010 to become a marketing and event manager for a medical company in Galway, County Galway. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connacht Rugby</span> Rugby team in Ireland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup</span> Schools rugby union competition in Ireland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Ireland</span> Third most popular form of football in Ireland, organised on an all-island basis

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).

The Connacht Senior Cup is a knockout competition for senior rugby union clubs in the Irish province of Connacht, under the auspices of the Connacht Branch IRFU. The Cup has been played for a total of 102 times, with twelve different cubs having won the trophy during that period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gavin Duffy (sportsman)</span> Irish sportsman

Gavin Duffy is an Irish sportsman. Duffy is a former international rugby union footballer who primarily played at full back. He last played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby, in the Pro12, and represented Ireland at full international level.

Galwegians Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Galway, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Elwood</span> Rugby player

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.

The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. The competition takes place every December and features four teams representing Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The competition effectively acts as a selection trials process for the Ireland women's national rugby union team that competes in the subsequent Women's Six Nations Championship. Since 2016 the IRFU has also organised a similar under 18s competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Muldoon (rugby union, born 1982)</span> Irish rugby union coach and player

John Muldoon is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the Lineout & Maul coach for Connacht.

Tom Tierney was an Irish rugby union footballer and coach.

Johnny Glynn was President of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Eoin McKeon is a rugby union player from Ireland. He primarily played in the back row. McKeon played for his native province of Connacht in the Pro14 from 2010 to 2020. He played his club rugby for Galwegians.

University of Galway RFC is the rugby team of the University of Galway. Their colours are maroon and white.

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.

The All-Ireland Cup, also known as the Bateman Cup, is a knock-out competition for the winners of the four provincial rugby union cups in Ireland.

Lindsay Peat is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Peat represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. Peat is an all-round sportswoman. In addition to representing Ireland at women's rugby union, she has also played for the Republic of Ireland women's national association football team at U-18 level, captained the Ireland women's national basketball team and played senior Ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin. Between 2009 and 2014 she played in three All-Ireland finals. She was a member of the Dublin team that won the All-Ireland title in 2010 and she scored two goals in the 2014 final.

Cliodhna Moloney is an Irish women's rugby union player from Kilconly, County Galway, Republic of Ireland. She currently plays for Railway Union RFC, Leinster Rugby (province) and the Ireland women's national rugby union team as a hooker.

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.

Nigel Carolan is a rugby union coach from Ireland. He is currently the Assistant coach to Scottish United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors. He was previously a Backs coach at Connacht. Before becoming a coach Carolan represented Connacht as a player, but was forced to retire due to injury in 2000.

Cormac Brennan is a rugby union player from Ireland. He can play in a number of positions across the backline mainly in the back three, but also covering centre. Brennan currently plays for Irish Pro14 side Connacht, having come through the province's academy. He plays his club rugby for Galwegians.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ruth O'Reilly". IRFU. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 O'Reilly, Ruth (26 August 2017). "Ruth O'Reilly: 'The guys in the blazers need to decide if this is something they are serious about'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Tralee expat Ruth key to Ireland Women's Six Nations triumph". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  4. Gavin Cummiskey (17 February 2012). "IRFU take 'some blame' for debacle". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  5. "Irish Player Reveals Shambolic Preparation Ahead Of Rugby World Cup". Balls.ie. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. "Lindsay Peat refuses to blame Ruth O'Reilly article as Ireland crash again". Irish Examiner. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. Sean Farrell (26 August 2017). "Tierney walks away after torrid World Cup calling for bigger, better athletes to play for Ireland". The42.ie. Retrieved 8 November 2017.