John Poland (born 21 November 1996) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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. He plays as a scrum-half for the

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

(MLR) in the United States. John recently played in the NPC with the Manwatu Turbos. Making 8 appearances and scoring 2 tries.

Early life

Born in

Ballinora Ballinora or Ballynora () is a small rural parish and townland near Cork city and Ballincollig in County Cork, Ireland. The townland is home to several education facilities and sporting clubs, and includes the village of Waterfall. Amenities B ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, the second eldest of four children, Poland first played rugby for

Sundays Well Sunday's Well () is a suburb of Cork city in Ireland. It is situated in the north-west of the city, on a ridge on the northern bank of the River Lee. Sunday's Well is part of the Dáil constituency of Cork North-Central. The area's GAA club i ...

, where his father had also been a player, and attended Presentation Brothers College, captaining the team during the

Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup The Munster Schools Senior Cup or Munster Senior Cup is the under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Munster Branch of the IRFU. The inaugural Munster Schools Senior Cup took place in 1909 and, since then, Cork city's two ...

. He also played hurling and football for Ballinora GAA, where he played on several inter-county development sides. Initially, he played as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, before converting to scrum-half. Poland has been capped at under-19 and

Under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

level for Ireland, and joined the Munster sub-academy in July 2015.

Club rugby

Poland played his club rugby with

Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...

during the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, winning several trophies while there. He moved to

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

ahead of the 2017–18 season and was an integral part of the side that was promoted to the division 1A of the All-Ireland League for the 2018–19 season.

Professional career

Munster

Poland was an integral part of the

Munster A Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Iris ...

team that won the

2016–17 British and Irish Cup The 2016–17 British and Irish Cup was the eighth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. London Welsh were the defending champions having won the 2015–16 final against Yo ...

. He was used as a replacement in round 1 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, ...

, missed the round 3 clash against

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a professional rugby union team from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, following their relegation from the Nat ...

due to exam commitments, was used as a replacement again in round 4 against Rotherham, before starting against

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

in the rescheduled round 2 and round 5, Ulster A in the quarter-final,

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...

in the semi-final and

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds is a rugby club based in Jersey, Channel Islands that currently competes at the RFU Championship, which is the second tier of English professional rugby. Until season 2022/23, the professional arm of Jersey Reds was part of Jers ...

in the final. Poland made his senior competitive debut for Munster on 10 February 2018, coming off the bench in the provinces' 33–5 win 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 ...

in 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 ...

New England Free Jacks

Poland joined American

side

in October 2019 upon concluding his degree in finance at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, in time for the sides inaugural season in 2020. He scored four tries in the 5 regular season games and had 4 try assists. Poland scored a brilliant individual try which was awarded try of the week in week 4.

Ireland

Poland was capped for Ireland U20 during the

2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held in February and March 2016. Wales won the tournament, the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam. Final table Results Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 R ...

, earning the

Man-of-the-Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award during the sides opening 35–24 loss to Wales U20 on 5 February 2016.

Honours

Munster A

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009 ...

: **Winner (1): 2016–17

Cork Constitution

* All-Ireland League Division 1A: **Winner (1): 2016–17 *

Bateman Cup The All-Ireland Cup, also known as the Bateman Cup, is a knock-out competition for the winners of the four provincial rugby union cups in Ireland. History The Bateman Cup ran from 1922 to 1939 as a competition for the four provincial cup-winners, ...

: **Winner (2): 2015–16, 2016–17 * Munster Senior Cup: **Winner (2): 2015–16, 2016–17 *All Ireland U20 League: **Winner (1): 2016–17

University College Cork

* All-Ireland League Division 1B: **Winner (1): 2017–18

References

External links

New England Free Jacks ProfileMunster A ProfileU20 Six Nations Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poland, John Living people 1996 births Rugby union players from County Cork People educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork Irish rugby union players Sundays Well RFC players Cork Constitution players University College Cork RFC players Munster Rugby players New England Free Jacks players Irish expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Rugby union scrum-halves Manawatu rugby union players