We’ve taken a look at a combined XV of Irish players who’ve departed the Irish clubs and provinces for careers abroad in the professional era.
Some returned home as better players, and others stayed away until retirement, but all of them prove that there’s a career to be had outside of the provincial clique.
15. Gavin Duffy
After a couple of years knocking around in Connacht, the Mayo man made the move to Harlequins in 2003, seeking a bigger challenge at a time when Connacht were real whipping boys. His three years in London were mixed, with Harlequins winning a European Challenge Cup (beating Connacht) but suffering relegation along the way. Duffy starred as Quins won promotion in 2006, but home was calling, and he rejoined Connacht in 2006, where he remained until he left the province in 2014, becoming a major part in the side’s growth in recent seasons. Narrowly edges out Conor O’Shea for this team.
14. Geordan Murphy
He may have been a natural full-back, but we’re going to squeeze him in on the wing for this one, a position he was certainly familiar with. Murphy left for Leicester as a teenager to study, 16 years, more than 300 appearances for the Tigers, and 74 test caps later (two were for the Lions), Murphy retired as cult hero for both Irish fans and those in Leicester. Indeed, Murphy could have had an even more prolific international career had it not been for his horrible broken leg against Scotland prior to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, when he was arguably in the form of his life. His battle for the 15 jersey during the 00’s with Swervin’ Girvan was an underrated subplot of the decade, and his haul of eight Premiership titles and two Heineken Cups is as good as any Irish player in history.
13. Tommy Bowe
Bowe made his Ulster debut at just 20-years-old back in 2004, and he made an instant impact on Irish rugby, scoring on his international debut just six months later against the USA at Lansdowne Road. Just over a year after his Ulster debut he was named the province’s Personality of the Year, but after four years at Ravenhill, Bowe departed for Swansea, where he spent four years at the Ospreys between 2008 and 2012, before returning home. Bowe has been one of the first names on the Irish teamsheet since 2008, and starred on the Lions tours of both 2009 and 2013. Selected at outside centre rather than the wing, but certainly capable in the position.
12. Johnny Sexton
It hasn’t been a roaring success, but Johnny Sexton’s move to France in 2013 made him one of the world’s best rugby players, and despite Racing Metro making sure they get their money’s worth by clocking up the mileage, it was a big coup for Leinster to bring him home. Played in the centre quite a bit in his early days for club and country.
11. Brian Carney
Carney’s path to Munster and Ireland was certainly a strange one. After excelling at Clongowes Wood and Lansdowne, he was plucked to play rugby league, where he starred for Wigan Warriors and Newcastle Knights in Australia. In 2007, he made the move home to rugby union, joining Munster, and found himself on the Irish squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, although he didn’t pick up game time. His union career started well, with tries in his opening games for Ireland and Munster, and he featured regularly in Munster’s 07/08 season, injury ultimately ruling him out of the Heineken Cup winning side. In 2009 he made a final return to league, when he joined the Warrington Wolves.
10. Ian Humphreys
The younger brother of Ireland legend David, Ian started out his career in an Irish filled Leicester Tigers team. In 2007, he was one of four Irish players who featured as the Tigers ended Munster’s uneaten home record in Europe, and he returned to Ulster between 2008 and 2012. He then went back to the Aviva Premiership, where he joined London Irish, but Humphs made a second coming to Ulster at the start of this season, where he has challenged Paddy Jackson for the number 10 jersey.
9. Eoin Reddan
Reddan is one of the best examples of a player whose career exploded to life after leaving the provincial setup. After his early years at Connacht and Munster, Reddan moved to Wasps in 2005 aged 24, and it was here his career took off. He scored a try in Wasps 2007 Heineken Cup final victory, and added a Premiership title the following season. His big break for Ireland came at the 2007 World Cup, when he replaced the dropped Peter Stringer for Ireland’s final two pool games. He returned to Ireland in 2009 to join Leinster and had picked up two more Heineken Cups, as well as two Pro 12 title in that time. In November, he captained Ireland against Georgia on the day of his 57th cap.
1. Nick Popplewell
Our loose head and hooker have a fine retro feel to them, and we’ve gone for big Nick Popplewell at No 1. Popplewell was one of just three Irish players selected for the 1993 Lions Tour to New Zealand, playing for Greystones and Leinster, as well as a brief stint down under in Brisbane, before finishing his career with Newcastle Falcons, whom he won a Premiership with in 1998.
2. Keith Wood
Uncle Fester departed for Harlequins in 1995 before the provincial boom at the end of the turn of the century, with England offering the chance at professionalism. Woody was a key member of the winning 1997 Lions team, as well as the 2001 side defeated in Australia. He’s gone down as a real icon of the Irish game, and his return home in 1999 to play for Munster was a key factor in them reaching their first Heineken Cup final in 2000.
3. Mike Ross
Initially I was going to choose Paul Wallace, but while Wallace moved abroad in search of professionalism, Ross’s career was heading nowhere quickly, before his spell at Harlequins brought him back from the wilderness. With Munster’s tight-head situation a closed shop in the mid 2000’s, Ross moved to Harlequins from the then European champions in search of first team rugby. By 2009 he was making a real name for himself as a “scrum nerd”, and was signed by Leinster after their first Heineken Cup success. He didn’t make his first Irish debut until he was almost 30, but he’s been vital since, and is in line to pass 50 international appearances in 2015.
4. Leo Cullen
Cullen had two seven year spells with Leinster, but in between he spent a couple of seasons honing his skills in the Premiership with the Leicester Tigers. Cullen lifted a Premiership title as captain alongside his fellow Irishman Shane Jennings, and was part of the Leicester side that claimed the first ever European away win at Thomond Park in 2007, before losing in the final to Eoin Reddan’s Wasps. On returning to Leinster in 2007, Cullen became captain in 2008, going on to become the only man to captain three Heineken Cup winning sides.
5. Mick O’Driscoll
Cullen’s second row partner also took a brief sabbatical during his provincial career, and returned home a far better player. Mick O’Driscoll departed Cork for Perpignan in 2003, returning to Munster two years later, where he would go on to collect two Heineken Cups, two Magners League titles, Munster’s Player of the Season in 2009/10 and picked up 23 Irish caps along the way. Retired in 2012, Micko is now part of the coaching ticket at his home province. (Narrowly edges out Jeremy Davidson for this spot on the basis that he left the provincial setup, and returned a better player)
6. Shane Jennings
As thick as thieves, Jennings joined his teammate Leo Cullen on the jaunt to Leicester in 2005, and enjoyed real success during his two year spell. On returning to Dublin in 2007, three Heineken Cups, two Pro 12s and an Amlin Chellenge Cup have ensured Jennings has picked up plenty of medals in his career, although his 13 Irish caps show just how competitive the Irish backrow has been in the last 19 years.
7. Trevor Brennan
A real cult hero, just maybe not to Ulster fans. Brennan jetted off to France and Toulouse in 2001 as a 28 year old, but enjoyed a career renaissance in the south of France, winning two Heineken Cups and becoming an icon to the club’s fans. The move may have ended his international career, and his final days of rugby may have been shrouded in controversy, but Brennan still runs a successful pub down in Toulouse, and it’s become a well known watering hole for travelling Irish fans.
8. Robin Copeland
Copeland’s journey to Munster and eventually Ireland was a long one. The Wexford man spent plenty of time bettering himself in the UK, going from Plymouth to Rotherham, and eventually Cardiff Blues, where he excelled before being snapped up by Munster for the 2014/15 season. After causing mayhem during the 2014 Nations Cup for Emerging Ireland, Copeland’s path to an international cap was finally complete in November, when he featured in the win against Georgia.
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