Seamus Kelly (born 30 May 1991) is a former American rugby union player who played

outside 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– ...

for the United States national team. Kelly previously played for

San Francisco Golden Gate RFC San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in San Francisco, California. SFGG's first side competes in the Northern California Rugby Football Union's Men's Division I, Women's Division II, and Pacific Rugby Premiersh ...

. He debuted for the U.S. national team at the age of 21 on May 25, 2013, coming on as a substitute against Canada during the 2013 Pacific Nations Cup. He made his first start for the U.S. on 8 June 2013 against

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 ...

. During the 2013

Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First hel ...

, Kelly played in four matches, two as a starter and two as a sub.

Early career

Kelly is from

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, where he attended

Xavier High School A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

. At Xavier he was also a standout running back in American football, earning the nickname "Famous Seamus". A number of universities were interested in recruiting Kelly to play American football. Kelly graduated from Xavier High School in 2009. Kelly played

college rugby College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...

with the University of California under coach Jack Clark. Kelly won two national championships during his years at Cal. Kelly played with Cal in the

Collegiate Rugby Championship The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News an ...

, and was named to the CRC All-Tournament team in 2010 and 2013. In 2013, Kelly captained Cal to a CRC championship win, earning tournament MVP honors. Kelly was named a Collegiate All-American four times.

Professional career

Kelly has stated that his goal after college is to play rugby professionally overseas. In September 2014 Kelly earned a one-month trial with Gloucester with the view to gaining a full-time contract. After failing to gain a contract with Gloucester, Kelly joined SFGG for the 2015 Pacific Rugby Premiership season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Seamus American rugby union players Sportspeople from New York City 1991 births Living people Rugby New York players United States international rugby union players Rugby union centres

Early career

Professional career

See also

References