Jacob Stockdale (born 3 April 1996) is an Irish professional

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 currently plays for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and for

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 ...

. He plays on the wing or at fullback. He holds the record for tries scored in a single

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

, scoring seven for Ireland in the 2018 tournament, for which he was also named Player of the Championship. He won the

Nevin Spence Nevin Spence (26 April 199015 September 2012) was a Northern Ireland-born Irish rugby union player for Ulster in the Pro12. He played as a Centre, but could also play Wing. He was educated firstly at Dromore High School, where he was introduced ...

Irish Young Player of the Year award in 2018, and was nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year in 2019.

Biography

He was born in

Newtownstewart Newtownstewart is a village and townland of in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is overlooked by hills called Bessy Bell and Mary Gray and lies on the River Strule below the confluence with its tributary the Owenkillew. It is situated in th ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

before his family settled in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

. He grew up idolising

Tommy Bowe Thomas John Bowe (born 22 February 1984) is an Irish former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. In March 2012, after four years with Ospreys in Swansea, Wa ...

and

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarde ...

.Gerry Thornley
"Jacob Stockdale living the dream playing alongside his boyhood heroes"
''The Irish Times'', 11 November 2017 He attended Wallace High School in

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

, where he played in the back row before moving to centre. He played for the school's first team in his final year,Jack O'Toole
"Jacob Stockdale - From Wallace reserves to one of the best wingers in the world"
Sports Joe, 2019 was selected for Ireland at Schools and under-18 level, and was named Ulster Schools Player of the Year in the 2014 Ulster Rugby Awards. He joined the Ulster academy ahead of the 2014–15 season,"Jacob Stockdale has signed a new deal with Ulster"
''The Irish Times'', 21 February 2018 while studying criminology at

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

Jordanstown Jordanstown ( ga, Baile Mhic Shiúrtáin) is a townland (of 964 acres) and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the urban area of Newtownabbey and the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It is also situated i ...

. He made his senior debut for Ulster against Benetton in January 2016, making six appearances, including five starts, in the 2015–16 season, and was selected for Ireland under-20s in the 2016 under-20 Six Nations and the 2016 under-20 World Championship. In the 2016–17 season he made 20 appearances including eight starts, and scored nine tries. At the end of the season he was named Ulster's Young Player of the Year. He was named in the

squad for the 2017 Summer Tour, and made his international debut against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2017–18 he made 19 appearances for Ulster, including 18 starts, and scored ten tries. He played his first home game for Ireland in November 2017, against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

where he scored a try. Two weeks later in the same November series he won "man of the match" after scoring two tries in Ireland's 28–19 victory over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was named Player of the Championship in the

2018 Six Nations Championship The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations. The championship wa ...

, after setting a tournament record for most tries scored with seven as Ireland won the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. He was awarded the

Young Player of the Year award by Rugby Players Ireland in May 2018, and won

BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year is an annual sports award organised by BBC Northern Ireland. Winners See also *Sport in Ireland *BBC Sports Personality of the Year References External links Northern Ireland ...

in December 2018. In 2018–19 he made twelve appearances for Ulster, including eleven starts, and scored seven tries. He was nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year in 2019. For Ireland, he won eleven caps, including five in the

2019 Six Nations Championship The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

and four at the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, and scored three tries, including one in Ireland's first ever victory against 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 ...

on Irish soil, In 2019–20 he made 13 appearances, all starts, for Ulster, and scored two tries. For Ireland, he won five caps in the

2020 Six Nations Championship The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

. In

2020-21 The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

he made 14 appearances, all starts, for Ulster, and scored three tries. For Ireland, he won five caps three in the 2020

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

, one in the

2021 Six Nations Championship The 2021 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, ...

, and one 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 ...

in July 2021. In 2021–22, he injured his ankle in Ulster's opening

United Rugby Championship 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 against

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

, which kept him out for the rest of the season, eventually requiring surgery in January 2022. Stockdale is a Christian (his father is a Presbyterian minister), and prays before each game.

Statistics

International tries

Correct as of 3 July 2021

Honours

Ireland

: **Winner (1):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: **Winner (1):

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

: **Winner (1):

Awards

*Ulster Schools Player of the Year, 2014 *

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

Young Player of the Year, 2017 * Six Nations Player of the Championship,

, 2018 *Nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year, 2019

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Ireland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockdale, Jacob 1996 births Living people Irish rugby union players Sportspeople from Lisburn Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Ulster Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks