Malcolm O'Kelly (born 19 July 1974) 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 who played as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

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 ...

and

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 ...

. O'Kelly was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and attended Templeogue College secondary school in Dublin, Ireland. He has played for the

Barbarians FC The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

three times, wearing his old school socks. O'Kelly completed a B.A. in Engineering 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 ...

between 1992 and 1996. The O'Kelly, who made his international début in 1997 against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, became a talisman of the Irish side and was Ireland's all-time

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

leader, surpassing Mike Gibson, on 12 February 2005 when he started in Ireland's Six Nations fixture against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. O'Kelly not only earned his 70th cap, but scored Ireland's first try in the match, giving them a lead they never relinquished. O'Kelly has since been surpassed by Ronan O'Gara (128caps), Brian O'Driscoll (124 caps), John Hayes (105 caps) Johnny Sexton (99 caps), Peter Stringer (98 caps) and Donncha O'Callaghan (94 caps) but earned 92 test caps in his career.Leinster Player Profile
/ref> O'Kelly also played with the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

on their tour to Australia, and had been named in the Lions squad for their 2005 tour of New Zealand, but aggravated a groin injury in training and was replaced by

Simon Shaw Simon Dalton Shaw MBE (born 1 September 1973) is a former English rugby union player who played as a lock. He played for Bristol, London Wasps and Toulon. He won 71 caps for England between 1996 and 2011, and 2 for the British & Irish Lions ...

. He has five Lions caps. At the end of the 09/10 season, O'Kelly announced his retirement from professional rugby. He is the only player in the Heineken cup to have played since the start of the competition – 15 years. He claims to have won a grand slam, the Heineken cup, the Magners League(3) and 4 Triple Crowns: he is also Ireland's third most capped second row. As well as that, he is a two time British and Irish Lion. O'Kelly is a supporter of the children's charity Plan Ireland and is a committee member of the rugby sevens club,

Shamrock Warriors RFC Shamrock Warriors RFC was a Rugby sevens club founded in 2009 by former Leinster Rugby, Leinster Fly-half (rugby union), out-half Fergal Campion. They were the only 7's club in Ireland endorsed by the Irish Rugby Football Union and were establishe ...

References

External links

Leinster profileIreland ProfileProfile at sporting-heroes.net, including caps from 1997–2000
(Retrieved 6 February 2005)
Profile at sporting-heroes.net, including caps from 2001–2002
(Retrieved 6 February 2005)
Profile at sporting-heroes.net, including caps from 2003–present
(Retrieved 6 February 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Okelly, Malcolm 1974 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Leinster Rugby players St Mary's College RFC players Dublin University Football Club players London Irish players Rugby union locks British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Barbarian F.C. players Sportspeople from Essex