Jack Dunne 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 for Exeter Chiefs in England's

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. He previously played for

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. He plays as a lock and represented

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

in the All-Ireland League. Dunne studied

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, where he received both a rugby scholarship and the Naughton Scholarship for physics.

Underage rugby

Dunne attended St Michael's College, Dublin and entered the

sub-academy immediately upon leaving school in 2017 before being promoted to the full academy in the Summer of 2018. He was selected for the Ireland U20s in the

2018 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2018 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. England were the defending champions. Participants Table Fixtures Round 1 ...

and at the

2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eleventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournamen ...

. Captained the Seapoint U10s B team in 2008.

Professional career

Dunne was part of the Celtic Cup-winning Leinster 'A' side in 2018 and made his senior

debut in February 2019 in a victory against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

. He signed his first professional contract with

for the 2020/21 season Dunne was selected as an internationally uncapped player in

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team, having previously coached New Zealand sides the Chiefs, , ...

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

's squad to play

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

in November 2021, though the game did not take place due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

cases in the Barbarian's camp. In March 2022 Dunne signed with the Exeter Chiefs for the 2022–23 season.

Personal life

Dunne is

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, having been out as such since his teens, but hadn't talked about it in the media until June 2021.

References

External links

Leinster Academy ProfilePro14 Profile
1998 births Bisexual sportsmen Dublin University Football Club players Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players LGBT rugby union players Irish LGBT sportspeople Irish bisexual people Living people People educated at St Michael's College, Dublin Rugby union players from County Dublin Rugby union locks Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Rugby union players from London {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub