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.
Harlequins is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London.
Munster Rugby is one of the professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster Branch, which is responsible for rugby union throughout the Irish province of Munster. The team motto is "To the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible." This is derived from the motto of the MacCarthy clan – "Forti et Fideli nihil difficile". Their main home ground is Thomond Park, Limerick, though some games are played at Musgrave Park, Cork.
Leinster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Nathan Hines is an Australian-born former rugby union and rugby league footballer. He played at international level for Scotland, winning 77 caps, and at club level for Edinburgh, Perpignan, and Clermont Auvergne among others. He also played rugby league.
St Michael's College is a voluntary Catholic boys' school, with an associated primary school, located on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4, Ireland. Founded in 1944 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit as a second feeder school along with Willow Park, it was initially a primary school to Blackrock College. The first eight pupils were transferred from Willow Park. The next September, 58 boys were enrolled. In 1952 the first secondary school pupils were admitted. Following expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, the school developed both a primary and secondary school. It has been extensively expanded, including the opening of a cafeteria, a sports pavilion, as well as new classrooms and a new gym.
Conor O'Shea is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the Italy national team from 2016 to 2019. He played as a full back and occasionally at out-half and centre for Ireland, Lansdowne and London Irish. He has also coached London Irish and Harlequins, and held management positions with the English Rugby Football Union and the English Institute of Sport.
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 1875, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland), which were both founded in 1871.
David Strettle is a former English rugby union wing.
Nick Kennedy is a retired English rugby union player and former Director of Rugby at London Irish. He played Lock for England, London Irish, Toulon and Harlequins.
Cian Eoin James Healy is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team.
Jonathan Jeremiah Sexton is an Irish former professional rugby union player who played as a fly-half and captained the Ireland national team from 2019 until 2023. He also played club rugby for Leinster and French side Racing 92.
Andrew "Andy" Dunne born 18 October 1979 in Castleknock Dublin, Ireland is a former professional rugby union player for Leinster Rugby, NEC Harlequins, Bath Rugby and Connacht. He retired in 2009 following a ten-year career. He was educated at Belvedere College in Dublin where he won Schoolboy International caps in both rugby and cricket. He progressed to a Commerce degree in UCD on a sports scholarship, winning a Colours match in 1999 playing with Brian O'Driscoll. He later returned to his home club by joining Old Belvedere RFC, where he won 2 Leinster Senior Cups, and three All Ireland League titles - Division 2 (2006/7), Division 1B (2009/10) and finally was captain for the Dublin 4 club's All Ireland triumph of 2011.
Fergus McFadden is a retired professional rugby union player who played for Leinster & Ireland. He played both as a centre and on the wing.
Benjamin Woods is a retired rugby union player who played for Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers as an openside flanker.
Paul Peter Patrick McNaughton was an Irish rugby union, soccer and GAA player during the 1970s and 1980s. He was also manager of the Irish Rugby Team, a position he held from 2008 to 2011. He played rugby as a centre, with Leinster, Ireland, Chicago Lions, Los Angeles Rugby Club, Greystones and Wanderers. Although better known as a rugby player, he also played soccer for both Shelbourne and Bray Wanderers A.F.C. To add to his array of sporting achievements, McNaughton represented Wicklow GAA in both senior football and minor hurling, making him the only person to play three sports in Ireland's national stadiums.
Darren Cave is a retired professional Irish rugby union player who played centre for Ulster, sharing the province's appearance record with Andrew Trimble and Rob Herring with 229, and won eleven caps for Ireland.
The 2011–12 Leinster Rugby season was Leinster's eleventh season competing in the Pro12, they also competed in the Heineken Cup which they won for the second consecutive year. The Leinster 'A' team however were knocked out of the British and Irish Cup by Munster A in the semi-final.
The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a predominantly European league. Clubs qualify for the Champions Cup via their final positions in their respective national/regional leagues or via winning the second-tier Challenge Cup; those that do not qualify are instead eligible to compete in the second-tier Challenge Cup.
The 2020–21 Munster Rugby season was Munster's twentieth season competing in the Pro14, alongside which they also competed in the European Rugby Champions Cup. It was Johann van Graan's fourth season as head coach.
