Niyi Adeolokun (born 3 November 1990) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 primarily plays as a winger. Currently unattached he most recently played for

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

& previously for

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 Del ...

. Adeolokun joined Connacht in 2014 from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. During his time with Dublin University, Adeolokun also played rugby sevens for the club.

Early life

Born in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, Adeolokun came to

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 ...

with his family in 2001 aged 11. He played a wide array of sports in his youth, playing

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

with Templeogue Synge Street and also played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

side Shelbourne's under-20 team. Adeolokun first played

as a student at De La Salle College in Churchtown.

Club career

Youth and amateur level

Adeolokun was tied with

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 ...

as a teenager, but after being dropped from their under-19 development squad, Adeolokun played for De La Salle senior school's cup team. In 2009, he was invited All-Ireland League side

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

by Director of Rugby, Tony Smeeth. Adeolokun played for the team for four seasons. During his time with the squad also played for the Dublin University Sevens team that won back-to-back All-Ireland Championships in 2011 and 2012.

Connacht

In June 2014, it was announced that Adeolokun had signed for Irish provincial team,

on a one-year deal. Connacht's academy coach

Nigel Carolan Nigel Carolan (born 27 December 1974) is a rugby union coach from Ireland. He is currently the Assistant coach to Scottish United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors. He was previously a Backs coach at Connacht. Before becoming a coach Car ...

had recommended him to the province, with Adeolokun having had a trial with the second tier side Connacht Eagles, in April 2014. Adeolokun made his debut for Connacht on 6 September 2014, starting against

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

on the opening weekend of the

2014–15 Pro12 The 2014–15 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the fifth with its current four-country format. It was ...

, providing an assist to teammate

Eoin McKeon Eoin McKeon (born 23 June 1991) is a rugby union player from Ireland. He primarily played in the back row. McKeon played for his native province of Connacht in the Pro14 from 2010 to 2020. He played his club rugby for Galwegians. Early life M ...

for Connacht's first try of the new season. He scored his first try for the province against

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

in the 2014–15 Rugby Challenge Cup. Adeolokun played a total of nine games in the league and four in the Challenge Cup in his first season, scoring a try in each. In November 2014, it was announced that Adeolokun had signed a new contract with Connacht to keep him with the team until the end of 2016–17 season. On 28 May 2016, Connacht won their first ever major trophy, the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. it ...

after a 20-10 win against

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, Adeolokun scored the second try of the match.

Bristol Bears

In August 2020 it was confirmed Adeolokun had joined Premiership Rugby side Bristol Bears on a short-term contract for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. He signed a one-year extension ahead of the 2020–21 season.

International career

In November 2016 Adeolokun received his first call-up to the senior Ireland team. He made his debut for Ireland on 12 November 2016, coming as a 67th minute replacement for Craig Gilroy against .

References

External links

Ultimate Rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeolokun, Niyi 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Ibadan Nigerian emigrants to Ireland Irish people of Nigerian descent Nigerian rugby union players Dublin University Football Club players Connacht Rugby players Bristol Bears players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union wings Templeogue Synge Street Gaelic footballers