Robert Baloucoune (born 19 August 1997) 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 it ...

player who plays on the

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 e ...

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 Champions Cup 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 Kin ...

, 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 ...

Early career

Baloucoune was born in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

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 ...

; his father is from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. Baloucoune attended

Portora Royal School Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the public schools founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Origina ...

(later

Enniskillen Royal Grammar School Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, is an academically selective, co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school. The school opened its doors on 1 September 2016. Two former ...

) and represented Enniskillen RFC in the Ulster Towns Cup, being part of the team that lost the 2017 final to Ballynahinch 2nds. He was selected by Ireland 7s for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, where they won the Challenge Trophy by beating Australia 24–14 and finished ninth overall. He was also part of the squad that won the 2018 Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Ireland's first Europe Grand Prix title. His performances for Ireland resulted in him earning a place in Ulster's academy part-way through the 2017–18 season.

Senior career

He made his senior debut for Ulster in their 36–18 win against Welsh side

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

on 26 October 2018, in round 7 of the

Pro14 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 ...

. He made his Champions Cup debut in round 5 of the 2018–19 tournament, starting against French side

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

and scoring a try in Ulster's 26–22 win on 12 January 2019. He made 14 appearances and scored six tries in the 2018–19 season,ItsRugby profile
/ref> and signed a development contract ahead of the 2019–20 season. He sustained a hamstring avulsion injury in training in August 2020, which kept him out until February 2021. In the meantime, he signed a two-year contract extension in January 2021. In the 2021–22 season he made 13 appearances for Ulster and scored nine tries, including a hat-trick against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

in the Champions Cup, and was nominated for Ulster's men's player of the year award.

International career

He was called up as a development player by Andy Farrell, training with the Ireland squad before the

2020 Six Nations Championship The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

."Ulster confirm new deals for Baloucoune, Marshall, Sexton and O'Connor"
The42, 25 January 2021 In June 2021 he was called up to the senior Ireland squad for the Summer tests. He made his debut against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on 10 July 2021, playing 80 minutes and scoring a try in the 17th minute. He was unavailable for

2022 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand In July 2022, Ireland played a three-Test series against New Zealand as part of the 2022 mid-year rugby union internationals. Ireland also played two matches against the Māori All Blacks. This was Ireland's first tour since their tour to Austr ...

with injury, but was selected for the

Emerging Ireland Emerging Ireland is an Irish rugby union team that represents Ireland in the World Rugby Nations Cup. History 2013 Tbilisi Cup The team was created to offer Tier 1 level opposition for Tier 2 sides in the IRB Tbilisi Cup, held in Tbilisi, Georgia ...

squad for the Toyota Challenge in South Africa in September 2022."Emerging Ireland Squad Named For Toyota Challenge In Bloemfontein"
Irish Rugby, 14 September 2022

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Ireland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baloucoune, Robert 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Enniskillen Irish rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks Irish people of Senegalese descent Ireland international rugby sevens players Ireland international rugby union players