Gary Longwell (born 30 July 1971 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

) is an Irish international rugby player. His usual position is as a lock, or second row. He spent his entire career playing for Irish provincial side Ulster, making his debut aged 19 in 1991. He was part of the Heineken Cup-winning Ulster team of 1999 in the 21–6 victory over Colomiers at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. In 2015, he was inducted into the Newtownabbey Hall of Fame

Provincial career

He made 152 caps for his provincial side Ulster, making his debut aged just 19 against English side Cornwall in 1991. He also played an integral role in the Heineken Cup final victory winning Ulster team of 1999 in the 21–6 victory over Colomiers at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.

International career

Longwell made his debut for the Irish national team on 11 November 2000 in a Test against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and went on to win 26 caps. He was a part of Ireland's squad at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia. He was also the only Ireland try scorer in the 40-8 demolition by New Zealand in Auckland, 2002.

Post-playing career

In 2005, Longwell was appointed head of the Ulster Rugby academy."Longwell set to tackle new challenge", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 8 June 2005

References

External links

Sporting Heroes bio

ERC bio
* 1971 births Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Queen's University RFC players Ballymena R.F.C. players Living people Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Belfast Ulster Rugby non-playing staff {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub