Keith Gleeson (born 21 June 1976) is a retired

Irish Australian Irish Australians ( ga, Gael-Astrálaigh) are an ethnic group of Australians, Australian citizens of Irish descent, which include immigrants from and descendants whose ancestry originates from the Ireland, island of Ireland. Irish Australians ...

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 ...

football player.

Early life

Gleeson was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

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 ...

, before moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with his family as a child. Raised in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Gleeson attended Catholic Jesuit school St Aloysius' College representing the schools 1st XV rugby union team over 2 years and as captain in the latter and playing for the CAS 1st XV and the New South Wales 2nd XV. He went on to represent

at u/19 and u/21 (Captain).

Professional rugby career

Gleeson has enjoyed a distinct career, representing

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney ...

in the

competition, the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state ...

in the Super 12,

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 ...

and finally most notably

. His preferred position is as an openside flanker. Perhaps the highlight of his career was representing

in the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. He stands 1.86 m and his playing weight is 98 kg. On numerous occasions

George Hook George Hook (born 19 May 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby union pundit. He formerly hosted ''The Right Hook'' and ''High Noon'' on the Irish radio station Newstalk. He had a career as a rugby union coach and businessman, be ...

has stated that Gleeson should start for Ireland as he feels he is their best openside flanker. Gleeson retired from professional rugby at the end of the 07/08 season with a Magners League winners medal.

References

External links

Leinster profileERC profileSporting Heroes profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Keith 1976 births Living people Rugby union flankers Australian rugby union players Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Leinster Rugby players St Mary's College RFC players Irish emigrants to Australia People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Rugby union players from Sydney New South Wales Waratahs players 2003 Rugby World Cup players Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players