Mike Sherry (born 18 June 1988) is an Irish former

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. He played as a hooker and represented Garryowen in the All-Ireland League.

Early life

Sherry was born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, where he attended Ardscoil Rís and won the

Munster Schools Junior Cup The Munster Schools Junior Cup or Munster Junior Cup is the under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Munster Branch of the IRFU with team members under 16 years of age. The competition has been traditionally dominated by ...

Professional career

Munster

Sherry made his Munster debut against

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 December 2009. He made his

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

debut against

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in January 2011. He was part of the Munster team that beat

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 ...

19–9 in the

2011 Celtic League Grand Final The 2010-11 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Celtic League season. The final was won by Munster who defeated Leinster by 19–9 at Thomond Park to claim their third Celtic League title. Background and Build Up 2010 ...

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park fr ...

. He was ruled out for six to eight weeks in October 2011 with an ankle injury. He returned to training in early January 2012, and was named in the Munster A team to play Ulster Ravens in the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009 ...

quarter-final on 20 January 2012, making his comeback in the 9–20 win. Sherry made his first Heineken Cup start in the quarter-final against Ulster on 8 April 2012. He agreed a contract extension with Munster in January 2013. Sherry became one of Munster's youngest ever captains on 16 February 2013, when he led the side out in their

Pro12 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 ...

match 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 ...

. Sherry was ruled out for six months in December 2013, after rupturing a cruciate ligament in his knee. Sherry also had a shoulder operation in January 2014 and, following a second shoulder operation in August 2014, he was ruled out for four to five months. Sherry made his return from the injury on 5 September 2015. He scored two tries in Munster's 35–27 win against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

on 17 October 2015. He started the opening pool game of the

2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup was the second European Rugby Champions Cup championship (21st overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The European Rugby Champions Cup repl ...

against

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

on 14 November 2015. In January 2016, Sherry signed a two-year contract extension with Munster. In August 2016, Sherry underwent a surgical procedure on his back which ruled him out for 3–4 months. In July 2017, Sherry began a gradual reintroduction to on-field training following the back injury, which had kept him sidelined since May 2016. He made his return to rugby on 24 August 2017, when he was a replacement in Munster's 35–26 pre-season win against

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

. On 1 September 2017, Sherry came off the bench against Benetton in Round 1 of the

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as th ...

, making his return to competitive rugby. He signed a one-year contract extension with Munster in April 2018. Sherry won his 100th cap for Munster during their 24–24 draw with

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

on 28 April 2018, a fixture in which he also captained the province. Sherry left Munster at the end of the 2018–19 season, later announcing that he had retired from rugby, citing injury and a lack of contract offers as his reasoning for doing so.

Loan to Gloucester

Sherry joined English

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side Gloucester on a loan deal until the end of the 2018–19 season in March 2019.

Ireland

Sherry was called into the Ireland squad at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

as precautionary cover for

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 ...

. He was selected in 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 for their game against

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

in January 2012. He made his Wolfhounds debut as a replacement against England Saxons on 28 January 2012. He was selected in the senior Ireland squad for the June 2012 tour of New Zealand, but did not feature in any of the tests. Sherry was called into Ireland's squad 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 ...

on 21 January 2013. Sherry won his second cap for Ireland Wolfhounds on 25 January 2013, again against England Saxons in a friendly. Sherry was named in the Ireland squad for the

2013 Ireland rugby union tour of Canada and United States In June 2013, Ireland toured North America, playing test matches against Canada and the United States. The tour was part of the second year of the global rugby calendar established by World Rugby (known as the International Rugby Board prior to N ...

on 19 May 2013. He made his debut for the senior Ireland team on 8 June 2013, coming on as a replacement against the

United States 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 territorie ...

. On 23 October 2013, Sherry was named in the Ireland squad for the 2013 Autumn Tests.

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland ProfilePro14 Profile
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Gloucester Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherry, Mike Living people 1988 births People educated at Ardscoil Rís, Limerick Rugby union players from Limerick (city) Irish rugby union players Munster Rugby players Gloucester Rugby players Munster Rugby captains Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union hookers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England