James Hart (born 28 July 1991) 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 currently plays 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 scrum-half.

Career

Son of an Irish father and French mother, Hart grew up playing amateur rugby in Dublin for

Clontarf FC Clontarf Football Club is an Republic of Ireland, Irish rugby union club based in Clontarf, Dublin and playing, as of 2018, in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. History Having played firstly in a field a ...

and also spent some time with grandparents in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, an area with a strong rugby culture. In 2011, he accepted a trial invitation from French

side

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, where ex-

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 ...

player

Bernard Jackman Bernard Jackman (born 5 May 1976) is an Irish former rugby union player who played for Connacht, Leinster and Sale Sharks. At international level, he has also played for Ireland. He released his autobiography, ''Blue Blood'' in 2011. He was di ...

was a coach, and earned a place in the club's academy. He played his first game for the club against

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

. After 5 seasons with Grenoble, Hart moved to another

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

club,

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

. On 24 January 2017, it was announced that Hart would be joining Irish province

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 a two-year contract, beginning at the conclusion of the 2016–17 season. Hart made his competitive debut for Munster on 1 September 2017, coming off the bench against Benetton in Round 1 of the

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as th ...

. He made his first start for Munster on 26 November 2017, doing so 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 ...

and scoring his first try for the province in their 36–19 away victory. Hart left Munster at the end of the 2018–19 season, to return to French rugby and join

ahead of the 2019–20 season.

References

External links

Munster ProfilePro14 Profile
* 1991 births Living people Rugby union players from Dublin (city) People educated at Belvedere College Irish rugby union players Clontarf FC players FC Grenoble Rugby players Racing 92 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 scrum-halves Irish people of French descent Union Bordeaux Bègles players {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub