Dion O' Cuinneagain (born 24 May 1972 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a former rugby union player who represented both South Africa and Ireland. Since retiring as a rugby player, O' Cuinneagain has worked as a doctor and as a rugby coach.

Early years

O' Cuinneagain was born and raised in Cape Town. His father, Connell, was a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

who came from County Dublin, Ireland. The O' Cuinneagain family originally came from Enniscorthy in

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

. His mother was an English nurse who came from Lancashire. O' Cuinneagain was educated at Rondebosch Boys' School before going on to study medicine at Stellenbosch University. As a youth he showed potential in several sports. He also represented Western Cape at schoolboy

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and was a notable hurdler.

Clubs and Provinces

O' Cuinneagain played rugby at various levels with University of Cape Town and then Western Province where his teammates included, among others,

Tiaan Strauss Christiaan Petrus 'Tiaan' Strauss, (born 28 June 1965) is a former rugby union and rugby league footballer who represented both South Africa and Australia at international level in rugby union and also played top-level domestic rugby league in ...

Corne Krige Corne, Cornè, Corné or Cornes may refer to: Places * Corne de Sorebois, a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland * La Corne, Quebec, a municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec * Corné, a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in ...

and

Bobby Skinstad Robert Brian Skinstad (born 3 July 1976) is a former rugby union professional player who has represented the South African national team, the Springboks. He played in the positions of flanker and number eight. Education Skinstad lived in Kloof ...

. However his career was initially hindered by a serious hip injury and in 1997 he left South Africa and moved to England where he joined

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

. Then in 1999 he switched to playing for

Ballymena RFC Ballymena Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Ballymena, Northern Ireland, playing in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. It is affiliated to the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The club fields fiv ...

and Ulster. He made five appearances for the latter in the

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 ...

. Injuries continued to hinder O'Cuinneagain's career and in 1999 he suffered two shoulder injuries and a broken wrist. In 2000 he decided to return to South Africa to complete his medical studies. However, in 2001 he made a brief comeback when he agreed to help out an injury depleted

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 ...

. On 13 April 2001 he played in a 24–22 win against a Rest of Ireland XV at Thomond Park before making a late appearance as a replacement against

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

in the

semi-final defeat on 22 April.

Rugby international

South Africa

O' Cuinneagain captained South Africa at sevens level. He was a schoolboy international in 1989 and 1990 and in 1995 played for the sevens team at the Hong Kong Sevens.

Ireland

O' Cuinneagain first played for Ireland at A level and on 3 April 1998 played against England A in a 40–30 away defeat. Between

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

he made 19 full appearances and scored one try for the senior Ireland team. He made his senior international debut in a 37–13 defeat against South Africa on 13 June 1998. He played in all four games during the

1999 Five Nations Championship The 1999 Five Nations Championship (sponsored by Lloyds TSB) was the seventieth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-fifth series o ...

and then captained Ireland on both a tour of Australia and during the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

. He scored his one and only try for Ireland on 15 October 1999 in a World Cup game against Romania. He made his final appearance for Ireland in a 60–13 win against Italy at Lansdowne Road on 2 March 2000.

Later career

After retiring as a rugby player, O' Cuinneagain returned to Cape Town to work as a doctor. He has since worked for several institutes, including the Sports Science Orthopaedic Clinic at the Sport Science Institute of South Africa. He has also worked as a general practitioner in Tokai, Cape Town. He remains actively involved in rugby and has coached and / or managed the

South Africa Sevens The South Africa Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament that is held in South Africa. It is currently hosted in Cape Town and is part of the Sevens World Series run by World Rugby. A South African leg of the World series has been include ...

and rugby teams at the University of Cape Town .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocuinneagain, Dion 1972 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players South African rugby union players South African people of Irish descent South African people of English descent Irish people of English descent Sale Sharks players Ballymena R.F.C. players Ulster Rugby players Munster Rugby players Irish rugby union coaches South African rugby union coaches Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School Stellenbosch University alumni Irish general practitioners South African sports physicians Sportspeople from Cape Town South Africa international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Irish Exiles rugby union players Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Cape Town