Rónan Kelleher (born 24 January 1998) is an Irish professional

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 who plays as a hooker 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 ...

club

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 ...

and the Ireland national team.

Early life

Kelleher was initially an outside back and then a back-row for much of his underage years. He then transitioned to prop, before finally settling on hooker. He attended St. Michael's College, Dublin where his father was principal. His older brother Cian Kelleher is a fellow professional rugby union player.

Club career

Kelleher came up through the Leinster Academy. He scored both tries as

Leinster A Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby ...

beat the

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 ...

Premiership Select side 15–8 to win the final of the inaugural Celtic Cup in 2018. He made his senior

debut in February 2019 against

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They wer ...

International career

Ireland

Kelleher represented the Ireland under-20s at both the

2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the tenth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Georgia by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournament, ...

and the 2018 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, playing 11 games and scoring two tries. Kelleher received his first call up 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 on 15 January 2020 for 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 ...

. He made his debut as a replacement against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 1 February 2020. Kelleher scored his first international try versus France on 14 February 2021 during the 2021 Six Nations. Kelleher tied the record for most tries scored by an Irish player in a test match, by scoring four tries for Ireland in a 71–10 victory over the United States on 10 July 2021.

British & Irish Lions

Kelleher joined the 2021

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

pre tour training camp in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, as informal cover for hooker due to the unavailability of touring hookers

Jamie George Jamie Edward George (born 20 October 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team. Early life George played for local team Hertford Rugby Foo ...

and

Luke Cowan-Dickie Luke Anthony Cowan-Dickie (born 20 June 1993) is an English professional rugby union player for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership. He plays primarily as a hooker but can also play prop. Club career Cowan-Dickie has previously been dual- ...

. Kelleher was not added to the touring party at the time, but was called up to the Lions squad in South Africa on 15 July.

References

External links

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Leinster ProfilePro14 Profile
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Ireland Profile
1998 births Living people People educated at St Michael's College, Dublin Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Irish rugby union players Lansdowne Football Club players Leinster Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union hookers British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub