Linda Djougang (born 17 May 1996) is an Irish rugby player from Balbriggan, Co Dublin. She plays for

Old Belvedere Old Belvedere R.F.C. is a senior Irish rugby union club based on Anglesea Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. Old Belvedere was originally founded in 1918–19 by former pupils of Belvedere College. Old Belvedere enters senior men's teams in th ...

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 Ireland women's national rugby union team. She works fulltime as a nurse in Dublin.

Background

Djougang moved to Ireland from

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

in Cameroon at the age of 9. She grew up in

Rush, Dublin Rush ( ga, Ros Eó , meaning 'peninsula of the yew trees'), officially ''An Ros'', is a small seaside commuter town in Fingal, Ireland. It was one of the few towns of the historic County Dublin. Rush lies on the Irish Sea coast, between Skerr ...

where she attended Rush and Lusk Educate Together National School. She studied general nursing at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

from 2015 to 2020. She worked as a part-time care assistant from 2016 to 2020. She also worked as an intern at

Grant Thornton International Grant Thornton is the world's seventh-largest by revenue and sixth-largest by number of employees professional services networks, professional services network of independent accounting and Management consulting, consulting member firms which ...

. In 2020, she began working at

Tallaght University Hospital The Tallaght University Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Ollscoile Thamhlachta) is a teaching hospital in County Dublin, Ireland. Its academic partner is the Trinity College Dublin. It is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. History The hospital, ...

. Djougang speaks English and French fluently.

Rugby career

Djougang began playing rugby at the age of 17 when a friend invited her to a game of

tag rugby Tag-rugby belt Tag rugby, or flag rugby, is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it, or shorts with velcro patches. The mode of play is based on rugby league with many similarities to to ...

. It was not until she was in university at

, while on a work placement, that she first encountered rugby. She was spotted playing ‘tag rugby’ in Wanderers RFC whose team manager Michelle Byrne invited her to join the club. A year after starting with Wanderers she got a trial with

. She took a year out of college in 2017 to concentrate on rugby and moved to All Ireland League club

in order to get experience at the top level. In 2018 she made her inter-provincial debut for Leinster, versus Ulster. She soon began playing for Wanderers Rugby Club before moving to

. She has also played for the

Dublin University Football Club Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Dublin and Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland, which plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. History The first known record of the Club appears unde ...

. In December 2019 she scored a try for Leinster against Harlequins in the first women’s club game to be played in Twickenham. In August 2021, the

Irish Rugby Football Union 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 home ...

announced that Djougang would move from

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby ...

to . Djougang originally played as a blindside flanker before moving to loosehead prop and then

tighthead prop 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– ...

. As of 2021, she has 12 caps for Ireland. She has scored 1 Six Nations

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and a total of 5 Six Nations points.

Awards

* 2021 Energia Women's Rugby Award - nominee * 2020 Zurich Women's XV Player of the Year - nominee * 2019 Trinity Sports Person of the Year - winner

References

External links

Irish Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Djougang, Linda Living people Irish female rugby union players Ireland women's international rugby union players Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Sportspeople from Fingal Irish nurses Old Belvedere R.F.C. players Wanderers F.C. (rugby union) players Leinster Rugby women's players Irish people of Cameroonian descent Cameroonian emigrants to Ireland Black Irish sportspeople 1996 births Health professionals from County Dublin