seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: Sky Sports


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Birth of Alan Quinlan, Irish Rugby Union Player

Alan Quinlan (Irish: Ailín Ó Caoindealbhain), retired Irish rugby union player, is born in Tipperary, County Tipperary, on July 13, 1974. He plays for Munster and is registered to All-Ireland League side Shannon RFC. He retires from rugby in May 2011.

Quinlan is educated at Abbey CBS in Tipperary and works for a motor dealer after leaving school. He begins his rugby career with Clanwilliam F.C. He moves from Clanwilliam to join Shannon U20s in 1994. He captains the Irish Youth Team against Scotland in 1993. He normally plays as a blindside flanker, but he also plays openside, number eight and second row for Munster.

Quinlan begins playing for Munster in 1996 and captains the youths team before becoming a regular in the first team. In May 2006 he makes a comeback from a cruciate ligament injury earlier in the season to win both the AIB League Division 1 title with Shannon and the Heineken Cup with Munster after a late appearance from the bench in the Heineken Cup Final win over Biarritz in Cardiff. He captains the side from Number Eight in Munster’s upset victory over Ulster in Ravenhill Stadium in the 2007 Celtic League. He is voted Man of the Match as Munster beats Toulouse 16–13 on May 24, 2008 to win the Heineken Cup for a second time. He is part of the squad that wins the 2008–09 Celtic League. In total he holds five league medals with Shannon, as well as two Heineken Cup medals and a Celtic League Medal with Munster. He wins his 201st cap against Leinster, equaling Anthony Foley‘s club record for caps, on October 2, 2010. He becomes Munster’s most capped player ever on October 16, 2010, against Toulon in the Heineken Cup. In the 2009–10 season he represents Munster 21 times, including all eight of their 2010 Heineken Cup matches.

In April 2011, Quinlan officially announces his retirement from professional rugby, to be effective at the end of the 2010/11 season. He plays his last game for Munster on May 6, 2011, against Connacht in the Celtic League, scoring a try to mark the end of his remarkable career and going off to a standing ovation from the Munster and Connacht supporters. He joins the Munster team at the 2011 Celtic League Grand Final trophy presentation, celebrating Munster’s 19–9 victory over old rivals Leinster in Thomond Park.

Quinlan represents Ireland ‘A’ between 1998 and 2001 and makes his senior debut for the Irish national team in October 1999, as a replacement in a test against Romania. He plays his first Six Nations match against Italy in 2001. He is a part of Ireland’s squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and scores two tries in the tournament before dislocating his shoulder scoring a vital try against Argentina in the pool stages, which ends his involvement. He is named in Ireland’s 2007 Rugby World Cup squad but does not make any appearances. Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan is widely criticised afterwards for not using his bench. Quinlan takes his caps to a total of 27 by playing in the Autumn Internationals of 2008 against Canada and the All Blacks.

On April 21, 2009, Quinlan is named in the squad for the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa. During Munster’s Heineken cup semi-final defeat to Leinster in May 2009, he is cited for making contact with the eye or eye area of Leinster captain Leo Cullen. The offence is deemed at the low range of seriousness and he receives a 12 playing week ban until September 9, 2009. As a result, he misses the Lions tour to South Africa.

Quinlan is a co-commentator for ITV‘s coverage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He regularly commentates with RTÉ Sport and Sky Sports on their rugby coverage.

Quinlan marries Irish model Ruth Griffin in Tipperary during the summer of 2008. They have one son named AJ who is born in January 2009. They later split up in June 2010. He releases an autobiography, Quinlan: Red Blooded, in 2010. He is a big golf fan and supports Liverpool.


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Birth of Tipperary Hurler Nicky English

Nicholas J. “Nicky” English, Irish hurler who plays as a full-forward for the Tipperary senior team, is born on October 20, 1962 in the village of Cullen, County Tipperary.

English first plays competitive Gaelic games during his schooling at The Abbey School in Tipperary. He arrives on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he first links up with the Tipperary minor teams as a dual player, before later joining the under-21 sides. He makes his senior debut during the 1982 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. English goes on to play a key part for almost fifteen years, and wins two All-Ireland medals, five Munster medals and two National Hurling League medals. He is an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team at various times throughout his career, English wins two Railway Cup medals. At club level he wins a set of intermediate and junior championship medals with Lattin-Cullen. He also wins a remarkable five successive Fitzgibbon Cup medals with University College Cork.

English’s career tally of 20 goals and 117 points marks him out as Tipperary’s third highest championship scorer of all-time. Throughout his career he makes 35 championship appearances. He announces his retirement from inter-county hurling following the conclusion of the 1996 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

In retirement from playing English becomes involved in team management and coaching. As manager of the Tipperary senior team between 1998 and 2002, he steers the team to All-Ireland, Munster and National League honours. He also takes charge of the University College Dublin team for the Fitzgibbon Cup.

As a hurling analyst in the media, English writes a weekly column in The Irish Times, while he also works as a co-commentator with TV3 and RTÉ Radio 1 during their championship coverage. In May 2014 it is announced that English would be an analyst and co-commentator for Sky Sports new Gaelic games coverage.

English is widely regarded as one of Tipperary’s greatest ever players. During his playing days he wins six All-Star awards as well as the Texaco Hurler of the Year award in 1989. He is repeatedly voted onto teams made up of the sport’s greats, including at left corner-forward and right corner-forward on the respective Tipperary and Fitzgibbon Cup Hurling Teams of the Century. In 2009 he is chosen on a special Munster team of the quarter century, while he is also included as one of the 125 greatest hurlers of all-time.