Andrew Warwick 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 ...

player who plays loosehead prop for

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four 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 Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

. He started out playing for

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

in the All-Ireland League, while working as a lorry driver for his father's engineering firm. He was involved with Ulster's sub-academy, representing the province at under-19 and under-20 level before being brought into the academy by elite performance director Allen Clarke. He played for Ulster "A", and was named on the bench for the senior team during the 2012–13 season, before signing an academy contract. He made his senior debut in February 2014 against the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

, and was pressed into action at tighthead in place of the injured

John Afoa Ioane Fitu "John" Afoa (born 16 September 1983) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. His position of choice is at prop. Afoa currently plays for Crusaders in Super Rugby. Personal life Afoa was a student at Auckland's Papakura High ...

, earning praise from coach

Mark Anscombe Mark Anscombe (born 1957) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, having played rugby spanning across 15 years. Anscombe (father of Welsh international Gareth Anscombe) has been a rugby union coach since 1994, coaching various ages and styles in both ...

for his doggedness. He signed a 2-year developmental contract with Ulster in December 2014. He made his 100th appearance for the province in a

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

match against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in 2018. In the summer of 2019 he developed a problem with his

sciatic nerve The sciatic nerve, also called the ischiadic nerve, is a large nerve in humans and other vertebrate animals which is the largest branch of the sacral plexus and runs alongside the hip joint and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest si ...

, which eventually required surgery in August 2020. On his return he was Ulster's fourth-choice loosehead prop, but after he came off the bench and stabilised Ulster's shaky scrum against

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 Delbhn ...

in only his fourth game back, he underlined his importance to the team. In the 2021-22 season, he competes with

Eric O'Sullivan Eric O'Sullivan (born 30 November 1995) is an Irish rugby union player who plays loosehead prop for United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Ulster and internationally for Ireland. Born in Dublin, O'Sullivan attended Temp ...

to be Ulster's first choice loosehead prop, starting most of their Champions Cup matches.Jonathan Bradley
"How Ulster's Andrew Warwick has defied the odds throughout his career to become top of the props"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 6 April 2022 He made his 150th appearance in a

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

match against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

in 2022. He was nominated for Ulster's men's player of the year award. Ulster head coach

Dan McFarland Dan McFarland (born 10 April 1972) is an English rugby union coach and former player. He has been head coach of Ulster Rugby since 2018. He played loosehead prop for Richmond, Stade Français and Connacht, retiring in 2006. He was forwards co ...

describes him as "a quality scrummager and hard worker in the loose", and notes his "experience and technical excellence". He praises him for being "a really good scrummager, his mauling is excellent, his maul defence is excellent. He’s where he needs to be when he needs to be there ... The more experience that he’s got in terms of scrummaging at the Champions Cup level, he’s demonstrated that he’s well able for that ... he’s pushed himself where he maybe sat a little lower in the depth chart to one who is battling it out to be the first-choice loosehead in our club". As of November 2021, he is also coaching the forwards at Ballymena rugby club.Adam McKendry
"Ulster prop Andrew Warwick happy to give something back to hometown club Ballymena"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 26 November 2021

References

External links

United Rugby Championship profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warwick, Andrew Irish rugby union players 1991 births Living people Rugby union props Ulster Rugby players Ballymena R.F.C. players People educated at Ballymena Academy Rugby union players from Ballymena