Rory Scannell (born 22 December 1993) 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 it ...

player for Munster in the

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. He plays primarily as a

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 eccentri ...

, but can also play as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

or fullback, and represents

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

in the All-Ireland League.

Munster

Scannell made his senior Munster debut on 1 November 2014, starting at

inside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

against Cardiff Blues in a

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 ...

fixture. He started at

against Cardiff Blues on 14 February 2015. Scannell was nominated for the 2015 John McCarthy Award for Academy Player of the Year in April 2015. On 14 November 2015, Scannell made his European Rugby Champions Cup debut for Munster, coming off the bench in their opening 2015–16 pool game against Benetton. In December 2015, Scannell signed a contract with Munster which saw him join the senior squad from the academy on a development contract from the 2016–17 season, before advancing to a full contract for the 2017–18 season. On 25 March 2016, Scannell won the Man-of-the-Match award in Munster's 47–0 win against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

. On 7 May 2016, Scannell scored two tries in Munster's 31–15 win against

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

, a win which secured Champions Cup rugby for the following season. In May 2016, Scannell won the Munster Young Player of the Year Award and the John McCarthy Award for Academy Player of the Year. On 28 October 2016, Scannell won the

Man-of-the-Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award after he scored the winning

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

in Munster's 15–14 away win against

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 ...

. On 24 January 2017, it was announced that Scannell had signed a contract extension with Munster until June 2019. On 4 March 2017, Scannell filled in at fly-half against Cardiff Blues when

Ian Keatley Ian James T. Keatley (born 1 April 1987) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays primarily as a fly-half, but can also play as a centre or fullback. Early life Keatley was born in Dublin, where he was educated at Belvedere College and Unive ...

went off injured, scoring 13 points, including a drop-goal that gave Munster the lead with minutes left of the game, in the 23–13 away win in

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...

. On 5 May 2017, Scannell was named in the

2016–17 Pro12 The 2016–17 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the seventh with a four-country format. It was the ...

Dream Team. Scannell was nominated for the 2018 Munster Rugby Player of the Year award in April 2018, his second nomination for the award. At the point of his nomination, Scannell had missed just 3 games during the 2017–18 season, and had played every minute of Munster's games in the

2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2017–18 European Rugby Champions Cup was the fourth European Rugby Champions Cup championship (23rd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby and was the twenty-third season of pan ...

. Scannell scored a last-minute 55-metre penalty to earn Munster a 25–24 win against

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 ...

on 27 October 2018 in the

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

. He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in December 2018. Scannell earned his 100th cap for Munster in their fixture against

on 2 March 2019, becoming the youngest player to do so for the province. He signed a two-year contract extension with the province in February 2021 and made his 100th Pro14 appearance as a replacement in Munster's 22–10 away win against

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in round 12 of the 2020–21 Pro14 on 20 February 2021. Scannell earned his 150th cap for Munster in their 18–13 home win against

in round 10 of the

2021–22 United Rugby Championship The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, ...

on 8 January 2022. He started in Munster's historic 28–14 win against a South Africa XV in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 10 November 2022, and signed a two-year contract extension with the province in January 2023.

Ireland

Scannell made his debut for Ireland Under-20 on 1 February 2013, starting against Wales Under-20 in the 2013 Under-20 Six Nations Championship. He also played for Ireland Under-20 during the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

. Scannell was named in 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 2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup on 19 May 2015. He came off the bench during the opening 25–0 win against Emerging Italy on 13 June 2015. Scannell started against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 17 June 2015, scoring 8 points in Emerging Ireland's 33–7 win. On 21 November 2016, Scannell was added to the senior

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 ...

squad for their

2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the ''2016 Autumn Internationals'' in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: ...

fixture against Australia. On 23 January 2017, Scannell was named in the Ireland squad for the opening two rounds of the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by The Roya ...

and he was also selected in the squad for the 2017 Summer Tour against the

United States 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 ...

and Japan. On 10 June 2017, in the one-off test against the

, Scannell made his debut for the senior national team, converting two tries in Ireland's 55–19 win in the Red Bull Arena,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. When he took to the field, Scannell and his brother,

Niall Niall is a male given name of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word ''niadh''),. According to John Ryan, Professor of Early an ...

, became the first Munster siblings to represent Ireland in the professional era. A week later, Scannell made his first start for Ireland, doing so against Japan in

Shizuoka Stadium is a sports stadium used primarily for football. The stadium is in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, although the stadium itself is merely the centrepiece of the larger Ogasayama Sports Park which extends into neighbouring Kakegawa. ...

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

and scoring two points in his sides 50–22 win.

Honours

Ireland under-18s

* European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship **Winner (1): ( 2011)

Emerging Ireland

* World Rugby Tbilisi Cup **Winner (1): ( 2015)

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland ProfileURC Profile
*
U20 Six Nations Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scannell, Rory Living people 1993 births Rugby union players from County Cork People educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork Irish rugby union players Dolphin RFC players Munster Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks