John Cooney (born 1 May 1990) 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 it ...

player who plays scrum-half for Irish provincial side

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 Kin ...

in the

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 ...

and the European Rugby Champions Cup, having 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 ...

and

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 Del ...

, and has eleven caps 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 ...

. Since joining Ulster in 2017, he has been nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year once, been named in the

Pro14 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 ...

Dream Team four times, and been Ulster's player of the year twice. He is the first player to play over 20 games for three different Irish provinces. Ulster describe him as a "talismanic player ... known for his sniping runs, kicking success, and ability to dictate games" whose "performances for the province have seen him consistently rank among the top points-scorers in the PRO14, now United Rugby Championship, competition."

Early life and family

Born in Dublin, Cooney grew up in the suburb of

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is an affluent, middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6W postcode area. Location and transport Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City ...

, and was educated at

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

and

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

."Five Things You Didn't Know About John Cooney"
United Rugby Championship, 13 May 2020 His father, John Cooney senior, who was born in

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

in South Lanarkshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, was a journalist who worked for the ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' before becoming European correspondent, and later religious affairs correspondent, for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' and the '' Irish Independent'', and published a critical biography of the former

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Primate of Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in ...

John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive govern ...

, ''Ruler of Catholic Ireland''. His mother is from

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

. His uncle by marriage is the journalist and author Martin Sixsmith.

Club career

Leinster

Cooney made his senior debut for

on 2 September 2011, when he started against Ospreys in Swansea during the opening game of the

2011–12 Pro12 The 2011–12 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the second with its current 12-team format, and also the first w ...

. He continued to make appearances for Leinster in the league, playing four more times, though each of these appearances came from the bench. Most of his appearances came while Leinster's front-line players were away at the 2011 World Cup, though he also scored his first try for the team later in the season in a win over Benetton Treviso. He made his European debut for the side in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, coming on as a replacement scrum-half in Leinster's 42–14 win over Irish rivals

and winning a medal in the process. In the following season, he continued to feature for Leinster in the league making a total of 13 appearances in the

2012–13 Pro12 The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with Ra ...

, scoring try against Scarlets on 23 February 2013. Nine of these appearances came as a replacement. In Europe, he did not feature in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup as Leinster were knocked out in the pool stages. He did, however, come on as a replacement in three of the team's games in the 2012–13 European Challenge Cup, including the final against Stade Français, earning himself another European medal in the process. He did not feature as regularly for Leinster in the 2013–14 season as he had the year before, finding himself behind internationals

Eoin Reddan Eoin Reddan (born Limerick, Ireland, 20 November 1980) is an Irish rugby union player who plays at scrum half. He initially attended the Jesuit boarding school, Clongowes Wood, before moving school to Crescent College Comprehensive where he ...

and

Isaac Boss Isaac Boss (born 9 April 1980, in Tokoroa, New Zealand) is a New Zealand–born Irish rugby union former player. His grandmother was born in Glenarm, County Antrim, thereby qualifying him to play for Ireland. He played scrum-half or fullb ...

on the depth chart. He made his first appearance 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 ...

against Cardiff Blues as a replacement, and went on to make a further four appearances in the league, all of these coming as starts. He scored a try 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 ...

on 9 February 2014. In the 2013–14 Heineken Cup, he made one appearance for the side, being used as a replacement against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in the pool stages.

Connacht

It was announced in June 2014 that Cooney would be spending the 2014–15 season on loan at another Irish province, with both he and Leinster teammate Quinn Roux joining

on loan. While Roux would return to Leinster in January 2015, Cooney agreed a deal to play with Connacht until the end of the season.

Ulster

After the

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and ...

prevented South African international

Ruan Pienaar Ruan Pienaar (born 10 March 1984) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half for the in the Currie Cup. Pienaar is the son of former Springbok fullback Gysie Pienaar. Ruan ...

from extending his contract,

signed Cooney from Connacht as his replacement ahead of the 2017–18 season. He made 25 appearances in his first season with the province, including 22 starts, and scored five tries, 37 conversions and 42 penalties, totalling 225 points. He also made 14 try assists. He was named at scrum-half in the Pro14 Dream Team for the season, having topped the league in points scored, try assists, penalties and passes, and come second in clean breaks. In the 2018 Ulster Rugby Awards, he was named Player of the Year, Rugby Writers' Player of the Year, and Supporters' Club Player of the Year. In his second season with Ulster, he made 20 appearances, including 18 starts, and scored 142 points, including three tries, made eight try assists, and was named "man of the match" twice. He was again named in the Pro14 Dream Team. In the 2019–20 season he made 20 appearances including 18 starts, and scored 180 points including ten tries. He was named Player of the Year at the 2020 Ulster Rugby Awards, made his third straight Pro14 Dream Team. and was included in the longlist of nominations for EPCR European Player of the Year, The following season he was Supporters' Club Player of the Year,"Henderson Leads The Winners At Ulster Rugby Awards"
IrishRugby.ie, 7 June 2021 after making 19 appearances and scoring 174 points, including seven tries, and making 19 try assists and 26 clean breaks. He led the Pro14 in points scored with 115, try assists with 13, and clean breaks with 22, and made his fourth straight Pro14 Dream Team when he was included in the 2020–21 team. His season was ended in April by a neck injury sustained in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Leicester Tigers. A hamstring injury sustained 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 ...

in the opening match in September 2021, and a calf injury sustained against Munster in January 2022, reduced his involvement in the 2021–22 season, but he made his 100th appearance for the province in the URC quarter-final victory over Munster on 3 June 2022. In December 2022 he won the inaugural URC Difference Maker award for his volunteer work with Belfast Central Mission's befriending service.

International

Cooney represented Ireland four times at U-18s level and played eleven times for the Irish U-20s squad. Cooney also represented

Emerging Ireland Emerging Ireland is an Irish rugby union team that represents Ireland in the World Rugby Nations Cup. History 2013 Tbilisi Cup The team was created to offer Tier 1 level opposition for Tier 2 sides in the IRB Tbilisi Cup, held in Tbilisi, Georgia ...

in the 2013 Tbilisi Cup. He came on as a replacement for Michael Heaney in the opening game, a win over , and started the two remaining games, a defeat to South Africa President's XV and a victory over . He made his debut for the senior

team against Japan in June 2017. He made 11 appearances for Ireland, the last coming against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 ...

.Eoin Harte
"Chris Robshaw ‘can’t quite believe’ John Cooney’s Ireland omission"
Pundit Arena, 20 march 2021

Honours

;Ireland under-20 * Six Nations Under 20s Championship (1): 2010 ;Leinster * Heineken Cup (1): 2011–12 *

Pro12 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 ...

(2):

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

(1):

;Connacht *

(1): 2015–16 Pro14 ;Individual *Pro14 Team of the Year (4): 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Ireland profileLeinster profileIreland U20 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooney, John 1990 births Living people People educated at Gonzaga College Alumni of University College Dublin Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Irish rugby union players Terenure College RFC players Lansdowne Football Club players Leinster Rugby players Connacht Rugby players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union scrum-halves Ireland international rugby union players Irish people of Scottish descent