Seán O'Connor (born 22 August 1996) 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 its m ...

player. He can play as either a lock or a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

and represents

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds is a rugby club based in Jersey, Channel Islands that currently competes at the RFU Championship, which is the second tier of English professional rugby. Until season 2022/23, the professional arm of Jersey Reds was part of Jers ...

in the RFU Championship.

Early life

O'Connor was born in

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

and first played rugby aged 6 with

Cashel RFC Cashel Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, playing in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. Cashel RFC has a 'minis rugby' section which caters for children from U7s up to U12s, a juvenile sec ...

. He attended Rockwell College and played three years of Junior and

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

Cup rugby, winning the latter as captain in 2015 when Rockwell beat Ardscoil Rís 23–13 in the final.

Professional career

Munster

On 11 November 2016, O'Connor made his competitive debut for Munster when he came on as a substitute against Māori All Blacks in a capped friendly in Thomond Park, which Munster won 27–14. O'Connor made his first start for Munster on 1 September 2017, doing so in the sides opening fixture of the

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as th ...

against Benetton. He joined the senior squad on a one-year development contract for the 2019–20 season.

Jersey Reds

O'Connor left Munster at end of the 2019–20 season and joined RFU Championship side

ahead of the 2020–21 season.

Ireland

O'Connor represented Ireland U20 at the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...

, coming on as a replacement in the famous 33–24 win against New Zealand U20, the team's first win against their Kiwi opponents in history.

References

External links

Munster Senior ProfileMunster Academy ProfilePro14 ProfileU20 Six Nations Profile
Living people 1996 births People educated at Rockwell College Alumni of Cork Institute of Technology Rugby union players from County Tipperary Irish rugby union players Garryowen Football Club players Munster Rugby players Jersey Reds players Rugby union locks Irish expatriate rugby union players in England Sportspeople from Clonmel Expatriate rugby union players in Jersey Irish expatriate sportspeople in Jersey {{ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub