Mark McCrea (born 7 September 1987) is a

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 for

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 Delbhn ...

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 ...

competition. He plays Normally on the wing but can play in the centre. Born in

Belfast, Northern Ireland Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, McCrea signed a year and a half professional contract in January 2008 which will keep him at Ravenhill until June 2009. McCrea had been part of the Ulster Rugby Academy for just over a year when he began training with the senior Ulster team. In December 2008 it was announced that McCrea had signed a contract extension until 2011.

Connacht

McCrea signed for Connacht for the 2011–2012 season on a 2-year contract. He made his debut for

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Con ...

against Benetton Treviso and scored his first Connacht try against

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

. He has made Three pro 12 appearances for

and has scored one try.

Ireland U19

McCrea has played for Ireland at under 19 level and has played in a churchill cup. He has been called up to the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

squad before.

Jersey

In February 2013, it was announced that McCrea would join

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

for the rest of the season and the next year.

References

External links

Ulster Rugby ProfileIreland A Rugby Profile
Ulster Rugby players People educated at Belfast High School Jersey Reds players 1987 births Living people Rugby union players from Belfast Rugby union wings {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub