Michael Lowry (born 20 August 1998) is an Irish

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 from Northern Ireland who plays

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

and out-half for

United Rugby Championship 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 ...

and

European Rugby Champions 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 ...

side

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 ...

, and internationally 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 ...

. Doubted early on because of his small stature, he has exceptional footwork and acceleration. Ireland coach Andy Farrell describes him as a "nightmare" to play against, praising his explosiveness and bravery. Born in

Belfast 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 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, Lowry attended

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

and captained the school to a

Medallion Shield The Medallion Shield is an annual rugby union competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The competition is open to all schools within Ulster, but only schools from within Northern Ireland cu ...

and three

Ulster Schools' Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Rugby, Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competitio ...

s in a row between 2015 and 2017, and represented

at under-17, under-18 and under-19 level, as well as Ireland at under-19 level. After leaving school, he joined the Ulster academy ahead of the 2017–18 season. He debuted for Ireland under-20s in their final match of the

2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eleventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournamen ...

against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, which Ireland won 39–33. He made his senior debut for Ulster on 29 September 2018, featuring off the bench in the province's 64–7 defeat at the hands of

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 ...

. He made his

debut in Ulster's 24–10 win against English side

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in round 1 of the 2018–19 tournament on 13 October 2018. In 2018–19 he made sixteen appearances, including twelve starts, scored two tries, with 38 defenders beaten and 17 clean breaks. He was named Academy Player of the Season in the 2019 Ulster Rugby Awards. He signed his first senior contract with Ulster in February 2019, joining the senior squad ahead of the 2019–20 season. That season he made seven appearances, including 3 starts, but his season was curtailed by an ankle injury that required surgery. In

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

he made 22 appearances, including 18 starts, scoring 53 points, making 159 carries with 54 defenders beaten and 15 clean breaks, and being named Man of the Match twice. He was named at fullback in the

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''PRO ...

Dream Team, and was invited to train with the Ireland squad for the 2021 summer internationals. In 2021–22 he made 20 appearances, including 15 starts, and scored 22 points. He was called up to the Ireland squad for the

2022 Six Nations Championship The 2022 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

, making his debut, and scoring two tries and providing a try assist, against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He was named on the long list for EPCR European Player of the Year for his performances with Ulster in the Champions Cup, finishing the competition first in run metres with 770 and joint first for defenders beaten with 29. He was nominated for the

Nevin Spence Nevin Spence (26 April 199015 September 2012) was a Northern Ireland-born Irish rugby union player for Ulster in the Pro12. He played as a Centre, but could also play Wing. He was educated firstly at Dromore High School, where he was introduced ...

Young Player of the Year award by Rugby Players Ireland, and was named Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Player of the Year. He was called up to the Ireland squad for their 2022 tour of New Zealand.

International Tries

''As of 28 February 2022''

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Banbridge RFC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, Michael 1998 births Living people Rugby union players from Belfast People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Irish rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Ireland international rugby union players