 | |
| Union | IRFU |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Warriors |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Official website | |
| www | |
Shamrock Warriors RFC was a Rugby sevens club founded in 2009 by former Leinster out-half Fergal Campion. They were the only 7's club in Ireland endorsed by the Irish Rugby Football Union and were established to represent Ireland as the only official Irish 7's team competing at the top level tournaments in Europe. [1]
The clubs aim was to develop a pool of experienced 7's players for the IRFU to be in position to select to develop into a future international 7's squad to compete in tournaments by giving them experience playing in the top level competition should the IRFU become involved in professional international sevens or in the Olympic Sevens. [2] The intention was to develop the game in Ireland and use the IRFU approved Warriors as the foundation for a national side. [3] Ireland does not participate in the official HSBC Sevens World Series. The Shamrock Warriors was the beginning of the process of getting sevens into the IRFU and into the national circuit. The team was self-funded. [4]
The player pool consisted of players who are playing club rugby in Ireland, those coming from provincial contracts and development players that may not win full professional contracts.
There is also a women's team that consists of club players around the country led by former Irish captain Sarah Jane Belton and is managed by Kazakhstan international Luke O'Callaghan. The team also hopes to recruit female Gaelic football players. [5]
Former Leinster and Scotland coach [6] Matt Williams has been secured as a technical advisor for the venture while a committee including former internationals Denis Hickie and Malcolm O'Kelly has also come on board to assist the project. [2]
The club aims to recruit players on playing at club level or those who may be coming off a professional contract, those falling off academy contracts as well as potential players coming up from school level. [2] The team is managed by Derek Thornton. [5]
The club is planning to compete in a number of outings for 2011 including:
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns the Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.
Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
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.
Matt Williams is a rugby union coach who is best known for having led the Scotland men's national rugby union team between 2003 and 2005. Williams has also coached Eastwood, West Harbour Leinster, Ulster, Narbonne, Ireland A and a Rest of Ireland XV. Since 2015 he has worked as a pundit for Virgin Media Television and has written for the Irish Times since 2011.
Malcolm O'Kelly is an Irish former rugby union player who played as a lock for Ireland and Leinster.
The Leinster Schools Senior Challenge Cup is the premier rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and was first held in 1887.
Terenure College RFC is a professional rugby union club based in the Terenure suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The institution, founded on 5 November 1940, currently plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League.
Denis Anthony Hickie, is a retired professional rugby union player formerly employed by the Irish Rugby Football Union. He played his club rugby for Leinster. His primary position was on the wing. He earned 51 caps for Ireland, scoring 29 tries for Ireland and held the Irish try-scoring record until his Leinster colleague Brian O'Driscoll broke it in 2008.
Saint Mary's College C.S.Sp. is a voluntary boys' primary and secondary school run by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and located in Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1890, closed in 1916, and then reopened in 1926. The school colours are blue and white.
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).
Denis Patrick Leamy is an Irish former rugby union player who is currently part of the coaching team with Munster. He was a back-row forward who could play either flanker or at number 8, and occasionally played at centre. He ended his club rugby career for Munster in the Pro12 and Heineken Cup, and internationally for Ireland. He officially announced his retirement in May 2012 due to a long-standing hip injury.
St Mary's College Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in South Dublin, Ireland, playing in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club was founded in 1900 by former pupils of St. Mary's College, Dublin and was originally known as Old St Mary's. They club won the Leinster Senior Cup for the first time in 1958. In 2000 they won the AIB League for the first time under the captaincy of Trevor Brennan.
University College Dublin Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Dublin, Ireland, and plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. They play their home games at UCD Bowl.
Gavin Hickie is the Head Coach and Director of Rugby for the United States Naval Academy. Hickie led the Midshipmen to their first ever National Championship win in 2023. The Navy rugby team went undefeated throughout the season, culminating in an 18-0 record. Gavin is a professional rugby coach and author of the rugby coaching book, Rugby Revealed.
Tullamore RFC is an Irish rugby team based in Tullamore, County Offaly, playing in Division 2C of the All-Ireland League
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team is governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
The Irish Exiles is a rugby union representative team featuring players selected from the Irish diaspora, many based in Great Britain. The team was established in 1989 by Tom Kiernan. It was officially recognised by the Irish Rugby Football Union and during the 1990s was effectively a fifth provincial team along with Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. Between 1992 and 1993 and 1995–96 the Irish Exiles entered the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. The Irish Exiles also acts as an academy system for players from the Irish diaspora who wish to play for the men's national team and other IRFU national teams including the women's national team, the men's sevens team and the women's sevens team.
John Cooney is an Irish rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Irish provincial side Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup, having previously played for Leinster and Connacht, and has eleven caps for Ireland. Since joining Ulster in 2017, he has been nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year once, been named in the Pro14 Dream Team four times, and been Ulster's player of the year twice.
Denis Joseph Hickie was an Irish rugby union player. He played as a number 8 for St. Mary's College, Leinster and Ireland.
The 2000–01 season was Ulster Rugby's sixth since the advent of professionalism, and their third under coach Harry Williams. They competed in the Heineken Cup and the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. Williams announced in August 2000 that he would leave at the end of the season.