Dave O'Callaghan (born 12 January 1990) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 for French

Rugby Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

side

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

. He plays as a flanker, usually blindside, but can also play as 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 ...

. O'Callaghan has a Commerce degree from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

Professional career

Munster

O'Callaghan moved up through the Munster Academy after joining in November 2009. As a member of the academy, he frequently appeared for Munster A in friendlies and 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 was a member of the Munster A team that finished runners-up in the 2009–10 British and Irish Cup. On 8 October 2011, O'Callaghan made his full Munster debut against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

in a

Pro12 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. O'Callaghan was named in Munster's squad for the

2011–12 Heineken Cup The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at ...

in October 2011. He made his

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

debut against

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", ...

on 21 January 2012, in Round 6 of the pool stage. O'Callaghan signed a Development contract with Munster in March 2012. On 27 April 2012, O'Callaghan started for the Munster A team that beat

Cross Keys Cross Keys or Crosskeys may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Crosskeys, Wales ** Crosskeys railway station ** Crosskeys College, a campus of Coleg Gwent * Crosskeys Bridge, a swing bridge in Lincolnshire, England * The Cross Keys (disambiguatio ...

31–12 to win the final of the

2011–12 British and Irish Cup The 2011–12 British and Irish Cup was the 3rd season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Wednesday 21 September 2011 and the final was held on Fri ...

. He won the John McCarthy Award for Munster Academy Player of the Year for the 2011–12 season. In January 2013, O'Callaghan agreed a two-year contract extension with Munster. In January 2015, O'Callaghan signed a one-year contract to remain with Munster until at least June 2016. O'Callaghan started in Munster's opening game of the

2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup was the second European Rugby Champions Cup championship (21st overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The European Rugby Champions Cup repl ...

on 14 November 2015. In December 2015, O'Callaghan signed a two-year contract extension with Munster. On 24 September 2016, O'Callaghan scored the bonus-point try in Munster's 28–14 win against

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

. He made his return from a knee injury on 19 January 2018, coming off the bench for

Munster A Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Iris ...

in their 27–0

win against Ospreys Premiership Select. O'Callaghan signed a one-year contract extension with Munster in March 2018.

Biarritz

O'Callaghan left Munster to join French

side

ahead of the 2019–20 season.

Ireland

O'Callaghan joined the

Emerging Ireland Emerging Ireland is an Irish rugby union team that represents Ireland in the World Rugby Nations Cup. History 2013 Tbilisi Cup The team was created to offer Tier 1 level opposition for Tier 2 sides in the IRB Tbilisi Cup, held in Tbilisi, Georgia ...

squad for the

2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup The 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup was the inaugural edition of this international rugby union tournament, created by the International Rugby Board and was played from 7 to 16 June 2013 at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi. The hosts Georgia were joined by Ur ...

in June 2013. He came off the bench in the sides 19–8 defeat at the hands of

South Africa President's XV The South Africa President's XV is a South African rugby union team that represented South Africa in the 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup. They won the tournament, winning all three matches, but did not take part in the 2014 edition. Previously, an Emerging S ...

on 11 June 2013. O'Callaghan started against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in Emerging Ireland's final game 42–33 win.

References

External links

Munster Profile
*
Pro14 ProfileU20 Six Nations Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OCallaghan, Dave Living people 1990 births Sportspeople from Youghal People educated at Midleton College Rugby union players from County Cork Irish rugby union players Dolphin RFC players Munster Rugby players Biarritz Olympique players Irish expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Irish expatriate sportspeople in France Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers