Niall O'Donovan 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 ...

coach who is currently manager 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 ...

, having previously coached Shannon, Ireland A and

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 ...

Career

O'Donovan spent his entire playing career with Shannon, representing the

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 ...

club for fifteen seasons and earning caps for Munster during eight of those seasons. After retiring from playing, he entered coaching and was head coach of the famous Shannon team that won the All-Ireland League in 1994, 1995 and 1996, and was director of rugby when the club completed their four-in-a-row in 1997. The team included the likes of

Mick Galwey Michael Joseph Galwey (born 8 October 1966) won an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with the Kerry Gaelic football team in 1986, as a 19-year-old, before turning to rugby union. He is thus the only winner of an "All-Ireland" in both rug ...

and

Anthony Foley Anthony Gerard Foley (30 October 1973 – 16 October 2016) was an Irish rugby union player and head coach of Munster. He was attached to the same squad during his professional playing career. He was a member of the Munster team that won the 200 ...

, who would go on to become

legends. Ahead of the 1997–98 season, O'Donovan joined the

coaching setup as an assistant coach alongside former head coach Jerry Holland and new head coach John Bevan. When Bevan left his role after just one season and

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year aw ...

joined the province as head coach, O'Donovan was retained as an assistant coach, staying with the province until he was appointed as full-time forwards coach for the Irish national team under

Eddie O'Sullivan Eddie O'Sullivan (born 21 November 1958) is an Irish rugby union coach, player (wing & fly-half) and a former Gaelic footballer. He is a former head coach of the United States national rugby union team and of the Ireland national rugby union te ...

in December 2001. After O'Sullivan was sacked following the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

and

took over as Ireland head coach, O'Donovan was appointed as an assistant coach to Michael Bradley with Ireland A, who compete a level below the senior national team. He was team manager and forwards coach for the

Munster A Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Iris ...

team that won the

2011–12 British and Irish Cup The 2011–12 British and Irish Cup was the 3rd season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Wednesday 21 September 2011 and the final was held on Fri ...

and, in June 2012, was appointed as team manager for

, replacing Shaun Payne, who had returned to South Africa. O'Donovan signed a three-year contract extension in June 2017, ensuring he will continue his long association with the province until at least June 2020.

Honours (as coach)

Shannon

* All-Ireland League: **Winner (4): 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98

Munster

IRFU Interprovincial Championship The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was an Irish Rugby Football Union competition run between the four provinces of Ireland - Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht. The Irish Exiles took part for four years (1992–93 – 1995–96). The competi ...

: **Winner (3): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01

Ireland

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

: **Winner (3):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Ireland A

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

: **Winner (1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Munster A

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 ...

: **Winner (1): 2011–12

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonovan, Niall Living people Rugby union players from Limerick (city) Irish rugby union players Shannon RFC players Munster Rugby players Irish rugby union coaches Munster Rugby non-playing staff Rugby union number eights Year of birth missing (living people)