Andrew Browne (born 21 January 1987) is a

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 it ...

player from Ireland. Browne is a versatile forward, able to play as a flanker or a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Browne most recently played professionally for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby. His older brother Damian Browne is also a rugby player, and formerly played for Connacht and

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 ...

Early life

Browne was born in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

and grew up in

Renmore Renmore () is a suburb of Galway City, Ireland, situated approximately 2 km to the east of the city. Renmore runs east along the coast and south of Dublin Road, from the shore of Lough Atalia on its west side to Lurgan Park on its east. The ...

. He attended

St. Joseph's Patrician College St. Joseph's Patrician College, often known as "The Bish", is a secondary school in the West Ireland city of Galway. Founded by the Patrician Brothers, a religious order, it has approximately 800 students on roll and, in recent years, has ha ...

, commonly known as The Bish. Browne played rugby for local clubs Our Lady's Boys Club and Galwegians. When was growing up his brother

Damian Damian ( la, links=no, Damianus) may refer to: *Damian (given name) *Damian (surname) *Damian Subdistrict, in Longquanyi District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China See also *Damiani, an Italian surname *Damiano (disambiguation) *Damien (disambiguation) *Dam ...

, who is seven years older than him, played for

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

, but the older Browne left the team in 2004, almost three years before Andrew made his own debut. Browne studied at

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

Career

Connacht

A product of the province's academy, Browne made his senior debut for Connacht in the

2006–07 Celtic League The 2006–07 Celtic League (known as the 2006–07 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth Celtic League season and the first with Magners as title sponsor. The season commenced on 1 September and was completed on 12 May. The te ...

, coming on as a replacement against the Cardiff Blues on 7 April 2007, in a match that finished level, at 16 points apiece. He made one further appearance in the league that season, also as a replacement. Browne made his first ever European appearance in the 2007–08 European Challenge Cup, coming on as a replacement against El Salvador. He also made his first start for Connacht during the season, lining out against

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in the 2007–08 Celtic League on 21 March 2008. In addition to this, Browne started one other game and made three appearances from the bench in the league that season. The following season saw Browne become a regular for Connacht. He featured in all seven of the province's 2008–09 Challenge Cup games, starting in five of them, including the quarter-final clash with

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

. Browne played in 14 of Connacht's 18 games in the 2008–09 Celtic League, starting in nine of them. Browne scored his first try for Connacht on 8 May 2009 in a league game against Irish rivals

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 Kin ...

. Browne played in only two games in the

2009–10 European Challenge Cup The 2009–10 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 14th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started on 8 October 2009 at Sixways Stadium in Worcester with ...

as Connacht reached the semi-finals. In that season's league he made 13 appearances, but started on just five occasions. At the end of the season Michael Bradley, who had coached Connacht for the entirety of Browne's time with the senior team, stood down from his position and was replaced with

Eric Elwood Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He split his club career between hometown club Galwegians and Lansdowne in Dublin, st ...

, who had coached Browne at Under 20 level internationally. The following season saw Browne once again playing regular first team rugby for Connacht. He played in all six of the team's games in the 2010–11 Challenge Cup, but Connacht failed to progress from their group. In the

2010–11 Celtic League The 2010–11 Magners League was the tenth Celtic League season and the fifth with Magners as title sponsor. The regular season began on 3 September 2010 and finished on the weekend of 6–8 May 2011. During these stages, each team played every ...

, which had been expanded to twelve teams with the addition of two

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

teams, Browne started 14 games, and came on as a replacement in a further four. Browne missed the entirety of the 2011–12 season for Connacht, in what was the province's debut season in the Heineken Cup, following an injury sustained during the pre-season. The 2011–12 season also saw the league renamed as the ''Pro12'', due to the addition of Italian teams. Browne returned to the team after more than a year's absence in the

2012–13 Pro12 The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with Ra ...

match with

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

in September 2012. He made a total of 16 appearances in the league that season, 13 of these coming as starts. Browne made his Heineken Cup debut when he started Connacht's pool stage game against Biarritz, which the province won by a score of 22–14.He went on to start three more of Connacht's games in the competition. Browne signed an extension to his Connacht contract in March 2013, agreeing to stay with the team until the end of the 2014–15 season. Elwood left his post at the end of the 2012–13 season and was replaced by

Pat Lam Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...

. In Lam's first season in charge, Browne made 18 appearances in

the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football leagu ...

, starting 11 times. In the 2013–14 Heineken Cup Browne started three games and came on as a replacement in a further two. On 4 January 2014, Browne made his 100th appearance for Connacht against

. Browne suffered from injury issues in the 2014–15 season, which limited the number of appearances he made. He played just eight times in the

2014–15 Pro12 The 2014–15 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the fifth with its current four-country format. It was ...

, starting only twice. He featured in four of Connacht's six pool games in the 2014–15 Challenge Cup however, and started in the quarter-final defeat to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

International

Browne has represented Ireland internationally at youth level, playing for the country at Under 19 and Under 20 level. He was part of the Irish team that won the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in the U20 Six Nations in 2007. The grand slam winning team was coached by Browne's future Connacht coach

. Browne has also played for the second tier international "A" side, known as the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

References

External links

Ireland Under-20 Profile

Ireland Wolfhounds Profile

EPCR Profile

Pro12 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Andrew 1987 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Connacht Rugby players Galwegians RFC players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Irish rugby union players People educated at St Joseph's Patrician College Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union players from County Galway Sportspeople from Galway (city)