James Peter Richard Heaslip (born 15 December 1983) 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 ...

former player who 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

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 played as a number 8. Heaslip earned 95 caps for Ireland during his international career from 2006 to 2017, making him one of the most capped players in Irish national team history.

Early life

Heaslip was born in

Tiberias, Israel Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fou ...

, while his father, retired Brigadier General Richard Heaslip, was there on duty with UNIFIL. His father was one of the founding officers of the elite

Army Ranger Wing , image = , caption = Shoulder flash and insignia of the Army Ranger Wing , dates = – present , country = , branch = , command_structure = Defence Forces , garrison = DFTC, Curragh Camp, County Kildare , size = Classified , typ ...

(ARW), Ireland's special operations force. The youngest of four children, he has two brothers and a sister. Jamie and his family moved back to Ireland when he was still young, settling in the town of

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

where he lived until moving to Dublin aged 17. He attended

Newbridge College , latin_name = , logo = Newbridge College crest.gif , logo_size = 140px , seal_image = , image = Newbridge College.jpg , image_size = 270px , alt = Newbridge College and the R ...

, in County Kildare. In 2004, he starred in the U-21 World Cup, held in Scotland, where Ireland finished as runners-up to New Zealand. Following his performance, Heaslip was nominated for the IRB Under-21 World Player of the Year award.

Professional career

Heaslip made his

senior debut in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

in March 2005. Heaslip was named in the first Celtic League Dream Team in 2007 and along with Ben Blair and Felipe Contepomi retained his place in 2008, in 2009 he became the only player to have been named in all three sides and retained his unique record in 2010. Heaslip scored his side’s only try in the Heineken Cup semi-final in which Leinster were defeated 26–16 by the eventual champions Toulouse.

International career

The first

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 ...

cap he received was in an autumn series test of 2006 against the Pacific Islands. He had the honour of being the 1000th player to wear the green of Ireland. He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

and Grand Slam He also was nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year for 2009. Jamie Heaslip (March 2009)

Heaslip was sent off for Ireland against New Zealand on 12 June 2010, the first Irish player to be sent off in the professional era, for striking an opposition player (

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...

) with his knee in frustration. He subsequently received a five-week suspension from the International Rugby Board. Heaslip was selected to captain Ireland against

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

in the 2012 Autumn Tests, after

Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the ...

Paul O'Connell Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach. When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union histo ...

and

Rory Best Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish former rugby union player from Northern Ireland and was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for Ulster and was registered for Banbridge RFC, having pr ...

were all ruled out through injury. In January 2013, Heaslip was named by

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year aw ...

as the new Ireland captain for the

2013 Six Nations Championship The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

, replacing

who had held the role since 2003. Heaslip was nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year in 2016, winning the award for Try of the Year against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 12 March in the 2016 Six Nations Championship. On 26 February 2018, Heaslip announced his retirement from rugby due to injury. He had been due to play for Ireland against England in the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by The Roya ...

on 18 March, but pulled out during the warm-up with what seemed like an innocuous injury at the time.

Lions

Heaslip was a member of the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

squad for the 2009 tour to South Africa, where started all three tests on the tour. He was also selected for the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, a ...

Personal life

In September 2014 he bought Bellamy's Pub in Ballsbridge with Leinster teammates

Rob Kearney Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish rugby union former player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a 6 month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland n ...

, Dave Kearney and Seán O'Brien. After an extensive refurbishment it was reopened as The Bridge 1859. Heaslip opened a new bar called "Lemon and Duke" in the heart of Dublin with a few of his teammates. In 2019 he was added to the RTÉ team of TV analysts for 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 in 2021 he was included in the BBC commentary team for the Six Nations Championship.

Honours

Team

;Leinster * Heineken Cup (3): 2008–09,

2010–11 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. ...

, 2011–12 * Pro12 (3): 2007–08,

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 Challenge Cup (1):

;Ireland * Six Nations Championship (3): 2009,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015 *

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 * Tri ...

(2): 2007 & 2009 *

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 ...

(1): 2009 *World Rugby Try of the Year: 2016 *World Rugby Men's 15s Try of the Decade: 2010–19 ;British & Irish Lions *British & Irish Lions tours (2): 2009,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, *Series Winner (1):

Individual

* IRUPA Supporters player of the year: 2010 *Celtic League Dream Team 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 *IRP Special Merit Award: 2019 *IRP Men’s 15s Try of the Decade: 2020 Nominations * World Rugby Player of the Year: 2009, 2016 *EPCR European Player of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015

References

External links

Leinster profileIRFU profileB&I Lions profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heaslip, Jamie 1983 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Dublin University Football Club players People educated at Newbridge College Leinster Rugby players Rugby union number eights Ireland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland People from Tiberias