Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

and was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for

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 Ki ...

and was registered for Banbridge RFC, having previously represented the Newcastle Agrics. Best earned 124 caps for Ireland, making his debut in 2005 and retiring at the end of the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, his fourth World Cup. Best is one of the most capped rugby players of all time, as well as the most-capped forward to ever represent Ireland. Best toured with the British & Irish Lions side in 2013 and 2017.

Early life

Best was raised in

Poyntzpass Poyntzpass ( Irish: ''Pas Phoyntz'' or ''Pas an Phointe'') is a small village on the border between southern County Armagh and County Down in Northern Ireland. It is situated in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lo ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and h ...

. His mother is English, from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions hav ...

. He was educated at Tandragee Junior High School and

Portadown College Portadown College is an academically selective, co-educational post-14 grammar school in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History Preparatory Department Portadown College Preparatory Department was founded in 1921 as the Carlet ...

. He then studied agriculture at The University of Newcastle.

Club career

Best returned home to join Belfast Harlequins in 2002 where he captained the team and gained his first Ulster contract in 2004. He made his debut for Ulster as a replacement at home to

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following t ...

in the 2005 Celtic League. He replaced his brother (now retired Ireland and Ulster prop Simon) as Ulster captain for the 2007/08 season and held the position the position until he retired in 2019. He is renowned for his abilities as a scrummager. Best missed the entire 2009/10 season due to surgery on a chronic disc problem. Best scored two tries in 2011/12 and 2010/11 for Ulster. He was part of the Ulster side that was defeated by Leinster in The

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pr ...

final in 2012. Best played his 200th game for Ulster in the Pro14 in 2017, earning the honour against Leinster.

International career

2005–2012

Best made his international debut for Ireland as a replacement against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

in November 2005 and made his first start against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in 2006. He has been involved with the national team ever since, initially sharing the number 2 shirt with Jerry Flannery. He was a member of the Irish teams that won the 2007 Triple Crown and was in the Irish squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup as well as the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national ...

which completed the Grand Slam. He captained the Ireland team that toured North America in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Prote ...

, while many of his Ireland teammates were on the British & Irish Lions team that began their tour of South Africa at the same time. He became the first-choice hooker at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

after an injury to Jerry Flannery. Best also played his 50th test for Ireland during the World Cup, scoring a try as Ireland beat the United States during the pool stages. He was chosen to captain Ireland again, during the

2012 Six Nations Championship The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was c ...

, after

Paul O'Connell Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach. When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union histo ...

was injured.

2013–2019

Best was added to the British & Irish Lions squad for the tour to Australia on 26 May after English hooker Dylan Hartley was removed from the squad after receiving a red card in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is th ...

final for abuse of an official on 25 May 2013. In 2014 Best won his 2nd Six Nations title. In January 2016, Best was named as the new Ireland captain for the 2016 Six Nations Championship. On 26 November 2016, Best became Ireland's fifth centurion, gaining his 100th cap in a test match vs Australia in the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

, Dublin. The previous week, Best captained Ireland to a historic 40–29 win over New Zealand in his 99th appearance, Ireland's first ever win over New Zealand. After finishing the 2017 Six Nations, Best was selected for the British & Irish Lions for the second time, on the 2017 tour to New Zealand. Best started in four of the five matches he played on tour, captaining the Lions to a 34–6 win over the Chiefs and a 31–31 draw against the Hurricanes. Best was not subbed off in either of those matches, and received an OBE while he was on tour with the Lions. Best continued as captain for Ireland for the 2018 Six Nations Championship, leading the team to a historic third Grand Slam and Triple Crown, as well as winning the tournament, by defeating England at Twickenham Stadium on St Patrick's Day. Although Best missed the mid-year test series against Australia's Wallabies, with

Peter O'Mahony Peter O'Mahony (born 17 September 1989) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup and Ireland internationally. During his career, O'Mahony has captained Presentati ...

captaining Ireland in his place, Best returned for the 2018 end-of-year rugby union internationals. Best cemented his place as one of the most successful captains in Irish rugby history during the end of 2018, leading Ireland out against New Zealand on 17 November 2018. Ireland beat New Zealand by 16–9, winning their ninth test in a single year. On 18 April 2019, Best announced that he would retire from professional rugby after the

. "It is with mixed feelings that I announce my retirement from

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

as of the end of this season," said Best. "This feels like the right time for me to go out on my terms, a luxury for which I feel very privileged,". His final match for Ireland was on 19 October 2019, when they lost to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

, 14–46 in the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

, which was also Best's fourth World Cup tournament. Best was replaced by Niall Scannell in the 63rd minute, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd as he left the field. His achievements across his career earned his subsequent praise from All Blacks Captain, Kieran Read. He is the only Irish captain to have a win over Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and he is one of a few captains to achieve this. Best played his last two professional rugby matches for the Barbarians in November 2019. In the first, on 16 November 2019 at Twickenham, he captained the team in the Killic Cup match against the Flying Fijians who won 33–31. He again captained the Baa-Baas in his final match against Wales at the Principality Stadium, Cadiff, on 30 November 2019. Wales won 43–33. When substituted in the 51st minute, Best received a standing ovation from the crowd, paying tribute to him and marking the end of his illustrious career.

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Coaching career

In April 2021, Best was announced as a technical and high-performance skills coach for the Seattle Seawolves alongside former Ireland international, Allen Clarke.

Honours

Best was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

for services to rugby.

Ulster

Pro12 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 ...

: **Winner (1): 2005-06

Ireland

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

: **Winner (4):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

* Grand Slam: **Winner (2):

* Triple Crown: **Winner (4):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhut ...

Personal life

Best was raised on the family farm near

; his older brother Simon also played for Ulster and Ireland. Rory married Jodie Bell, a schoolteacher in Richhill in the summer of 2009, they have two boys and one girl. Rory is a tillage and beef farmer, with his father and brother Simon in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to t ...

. In 2018 while Ireland Captain, Best received criticism for attending a trial in a sign of support for his teammates on trial for the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl at a party in Belfast, which was ultimately dismissed. He admitted regret in attending the trial a year later in interviews with the press.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Rory 1982 births Living people Belfast Harlequins rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union players People educated at Portadown College Rugby union hookers Ulster Rugby players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Officers of the Order of the British Empire Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Rugby union players from County Armagh