James Rael (born 25 March 1992) 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. Rael played as a hooker. He most recently played professionally for Irish provincial side

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Con ...

. Before joining Connacht, Rael was part of the academy at

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 ...

and played his club rugby with Garryowen.

Career

Connacht

Rael started his career in his native province of Munster, being part of the team's academy and played for the amateur club Garryowen in the All-Ireland League. Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Rael signed a one-year development contract with fellow Irish provincial side

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

. He made his debut for Connacht on 28 September 2013, coming off the bench against

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

in the

2013–14 Pro12 The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12 rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with Rab ...

. In April 2014, it was announced that Rael failed to secure a renewed contract and he would be leaving the province at the end of the season.

Ireland

Rael has represented his country at under-age international level. He earned a total of nine caps for Ireland Under-20's, scoring a single try. Rael represented the team at the

2012 IRB Junior World Championship The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South A ...

References

External links

Connacht ProfileIreland U20 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rael, James Living people 1992 births Irish rugby union players Connacht Rugby players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Limerick (city)