Ali Birch (born 13 October 1988) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach and former player. He played at

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

, for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a professional rugby union team from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, following their relegation from the Nat ...

professionally, and at amateur level for

Dungannon RFC Dungannon RFC (Dungannon Football Club) is a rugby union club from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. History The 5th Earl of Ranfurly, who was President of Dungannon Football Club for 24 years an ...

and City of Armagh RFC. After retiring as a player following a series of concussions in 2017, he became City of Armagh's assistant forwards coach. Birch was educated at Royal School Armagh,Michael Sadlier
"Concussions cause former Ulster player to call time on playing days"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 11 December 2017 and played club rugby for Dungannon, where he was tipped as a future Ulster player by former IRFU president Andy Crawford. He was selected for the Ulster Ravens for a friendly against the Ireland u20s in January 2010, and also played for the Ravens in the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009 ...

. He made an appearance from the bench for the Ulster senior team in their final match of the

2009–10 Celtic League The 2009–10 Celtic League (known as the 2009–10 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the league now known as Pro12 and the fourth with Magners as title sponsor. The season began in September 2009 and ended with the G ...

. At the end of the 2009-10 season he was nominated for the Ken Goodall Award for outstanding club player of the year for his performances with Dungannon. He was named in the Ulster academy for 2010-11. His first senior start came against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

in December 2011, and he made four more substitute appearances during the rest of the 2011-12 season. The following season he made four appearances, including two starts. He joined Rotherham Titans ahead of the 2013-14 season, and played there for three seasons, making 64 appearances including 40 starts and scoring nine tries. In 2016 he returned to Irish club rugby, joining City of Armagh and being named the team's captain. He led them to their first title in senior rugby, winning the Ulster Senior League in 2016, and helped them win promotion to Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. He retired as a player on medical advice following a series of concussions in December 2017, and joined City of Armagh's coaching team as assistant forwards coach."Former Armagh RFC captain forced into retirement joins club coaching staff"
Armagh Independent, 13 December 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Ali Ulster Rugby players 1988 births Living people People educated at The Royal School, Armagh Rotherham Titans players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from County Armagh