Mike Ross (born 21 December 1979) is a retired

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 ...

footballer who played

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for Irish club

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 the Ireland national rugby team. He attended St. Colman's College, Fermoy, as a day-boy from 1992 to 1998, and he played his club rugby at this time with Fermoy RFC. The former UCC and Cork Constitution player made the move from Munster and played for three years at the highest level in England, making his name in the

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with Harlequins. Following a move to Leinster, he featured in a number of Ireland squads and lined out for the Wolfhounds, as well as making his debut for the National team on the 2009 Summer tour to Canada and the USA. Ross later made his Six Nations debut in 2011 against Italy. Following that, he was a mainstay on the Irish team until 2016. His scrummaging was widely regarded as key to Leinster's Heineken Cup & Ireland's World Cup progression to the Quarter Final in 2011.

Club career

After starting his rugby career with

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

, Ross spent three years with Harlequins in

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before signing for

in 2009. The move back to

Irish rugby Rugby union in Ireland ( ga, Aontas Rugbaí) is a very popular team sport. Rugby union is organised on an all-Ireland basis with one Ireland national rugby union team, national team, Irish Rugby Football Union, governing body and All-Ireland L ...

was seen as a move to bolster his playing opportunities to play international rugby with

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 scored his first ever professional try on 5 April 2013, in an Amlin Challenge Cup Quarter Final victory away to London Wasps. After a career that has saw him win two Six Nations titles, represent Ireland at two World Cups as well as winning two Heineken Cups, a Challenge Cup and two PRO12 titles with Leinster, Ross confirmed that he would retire from rugby at the end of the 2016–17 season.

International career

On 23 May 2009, Ross made his debut for

against

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, coming on as a replacement in a 25–6 win. He made his first start in the game against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on 31 May. Ross made his Six Nations debut when he was given the responsibility of leading the scrum against the Italians on 5 February 2011.

References

External links

Ireland A Profile
(archived)
Munster profile
(archived)
IRFU profile
(archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Mike 1979 births Living people Cork Constitution players Rugby union props Munster Rugby players Harlequin F.C. players Leinster Rugby players Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players People educated at St Colman's College, Fermoy