Clarke Dermody (born 22 April 1980, in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

) is a former New Zealand

rugby union player 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 ...

who has gone on to coach professionally. Dermody was born in

, New Zealand, and attended

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 and ...

. Dermody's great great grandfather Graham Shannon played for New Zealand in 1893.

Playing career

Dermody played as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. He represented Woodlands in the Invercargill premier competition and was the second Woodlands player to have played for the All Blacks after

Jimmy Cowan Quinton James Cowan (born 6 March 1982) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He first played for the All Blacks – New Zealand's national team – during the 2004 tour to the United Kingdom and France, and played his last Test match for t ...

(All Black number 1046). They were later joined by

Jamie Mackintosh Jamie Mackintosh (born 20 February 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player currently playing for the Austin Gilgronis in Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for Section Paloise in the French Top 14 competition. He wa ...

(All Black 1081). Dermody played 44 games for the Highlanders in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

and 89 games for

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

in the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

and

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. In June 2006 he had two test appearances against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, playing alongside

Keven Mealamu Keven Filipo Mealamu (born 20 March 1979) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played at hooker for the Blues in Super Rugby, Auckland in the National Provincial Championship, and the New Zealand national team. He was a key membe ...

and

Carl Hayman Carl Joseph Hayman (born 14 November 1979) is a retired New Zealand rugby union footballer who played at tighthead prop. Hayman has previously played for the Highlanders in Super Rugby, Otago in the NPC, and Newcastle Falcons in the English P ...

, scoring a try in 2nd test. In both matches he was substituted by

Neemia Tialata Neemia Stanley Tialata (born 15 July 1982 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He currently plays for Stade Toulousain in the Top 14. As well as representing New Zealand from 2005 - 2010, he also played for the H ...

after 67 minutes. He was not required in the 30-man squad for the

2006 Tri Nations Series 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. In November he played in another test, coming on to replace Tony Woodcock in the final 10 minutes of a 41-20 victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at Twickenham. Dermody missed out on selection for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in 2007 but was named in the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

for the

Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

. In November 2007 Dermody played his first of over 100 games in the

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

jersey. He retired due to a back injury in 2012.

Coaching career

Dermody was Southland's Assistant Coach, to Brad Mooar, in 2014. In 2018 he joined Tasman as co-Head Coach with Andrew Goodman at when the Mako's won the NPC Premiership titles in 2019 and 2020. Dermody was interim coach of the in

in 2021 while Tony Brown was on international duty with Japan. After Brown's tenure, Dermody was announced as the Highlander's Head Coach from 2023. https://www.superrugby.co.nz/news/clarke-dermody-named-new-highlanders-coach/

References

External links

London Irish profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dermody, Clarke 1980 births New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at Southland Boys' High School Living people London Irish players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand people of Irish descent Rugby union props Southland rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby union players from Invercargill New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England