Nigel Carolan (born 27 December 1974) is a

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 from

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 is currently the Assistant coach to Scottish

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 ...

side

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. He was previously a Backs coach at

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 ...

. Before becoming a coach Carolan represented Connacht as a player, but was forced to retire due to injury in 2000.

Early life

Carolan is a native of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

and was a student in

St. Joseph's Patrician College St. Joseph's Patrician College, often known as "The Bish", is a secondary school in the West Ireland city of Galway. Founded by the Patrician Brothers, a religious order, it has approximately 800 students on roll and, in recent years, has ha ...

in the city. After finishing school, he attended

Galway-Mayo IT The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT; ga, Institúid Teicneolaíochta na Gaillimhe-Maigh Eo) was an institute of technology, located in Galway, Ireland. In April 2022, it was formally dissolved, and its functions were transferred to ...

studying marketing. He later studied systems analysis at

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

Playing career

Carolan played primarily as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, but was also used at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

during his career. He represented both Galway Corinthians and Galwegians at amateur level. In 1996, at the outset of the professional era Carolan was a part of

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

side. He played for the side in the

Interprovincial Championship The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

and the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

until 2000, when a neck injury forced him to retire at the age of 26.

Coaching career

Carolan was appointed as head of Connacht's academy in 2004, overseeing the development pathways of youth players, coaching under-age sides and scouting youth prospects from outside the province. For the first year of his career, he also served as a technical analyst to the Irish under-21 team. Carolan was later appointed as assistant coach to the Irish under-20s under Allen Clarke in 2008, staying in the role until 2010. In the 2012–13 season Connacht's second tier side, the

Connacht Eagles Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Conn ...

began competing 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 ...

, with Carolan serving as the team's head coach. He performed this role for two seasons, before being appointed to succeed

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

as head coach of the Ireland under-20 team in October 2014. Carolan coached the side in three Six Nations and two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, with the team's runner-up finish in the 2016 World Championship their best ever performance in the tournament. In March 2017, it was announced that Carolan would be part of the new senior backroom team under

Kieran Keane Kieran James Keane (born 9 February 1954) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former rugby union player. A second five-eighth, Keane represented Canterbury at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Bla ...

for the 2017–18 season. Following this announcement, he left his role with the Irish under-20s with immediate effect, with Peter Malone replacing him for the upcoming World Championship. The promotion brought an end to Carolan's 13-year stewardship of the province's academy, with former Connacht head coach

Eric Elwood Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He split his club career between hometown club Galwegians and Lansdowne in Dublin, star ...

named as his replacement in May 2017. On 21 June 2021 it was announced that Carolan was appointed as an Assistant Coach at

, focussing on attack. Carolan said of the move:

Glasgow Warriors play an exciting brand of rugby that fits perfectly with my own philosophies on how the game should be played. I’ve also been really impressed with the clarity and direction in which Danny Wilson and Al Kellock are taking the club. The squad consists of world-class players and some really exciting up and coming young players. Helping those players realise their potential is something I will take a lot of pride in.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carolan, Nigel 1974 births Living people Connacht Rugby non-playing staff Connacht Rugby players Galwegians RFC players Irish rugby union coaches Rugby union players from County Galway Glasgow Warriors coaches