Stephen Archer (born 29 January 1988) 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 for

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 the ...

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 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 pre ...

. He plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

and represents

Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...

in the All-Ireland League.

Munster

Archer made his Munster debut as a replacement against

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

during a

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

fixture on 23 October 2009. He was part of the historic Munster team that beat

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

15–6 at

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park fr ...

on 16 November 2010. He made his

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 pre ...

debut as a replacement in Munster's Round 5 26–10 win against

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administ ...

on 14 January 2012, during the

2011–12 Heineken Cup The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at ...

. Archer was part of the team that defeated newly crowned Heineken Cup champions, and arch-rivals,

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 ...

19–9 in the

2011 Magners League Grand Final The 2010-11 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Celtic League season. The final was won by Munster who defeated Leinster by 19–9 at Thomond Park to claim their third Celtic League title. Background and Build Up 2010 ...

on 28 May 2011. With Munster A, Archer won the

2011–12 British and Irish Cup The 2011–12 British and Irish Cup was the 3rd season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Wednesday 21 September 2011 and the final was held on Fri ...

. He scored his first try for Munster in a

2011–12 Pro12 The 2011–12 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the second with its current 12-team format, and also the first w ...

league fixture 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 King ...

on 5 May 2012. He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in January 2013. In October 2015, Archer was ruled out for a number of months after sustaining a neck injury that required surgery. Archer made his 150th appearance for Munster on 1 January 2018, doing so when he came off the bench against

in a

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 ...

fixture. He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in January 2018. Archer made his 150th

appearance in Munster's 37–28 win against Italian side Benetton in round 20 of the 2018–19 season on 12 April 2019. He won his 200th cap for Munster in their

2019–20 Pro14 The 2019–20 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness Brewery, Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It was the third season to be ...

round 7 fixture against

on 29 November 2019, becoming the eleventh player to achieve the accolade for the province. Archer signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in January 2020, and signed a one-year contract extension in January 2022. He won his 50th Champions Cup cap for Munster in their 26–10 home win against English club

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

in the second leg of their 2021–22 Champions Cup round of 16 clash on 16 April 2022, and he overtook

Billy Holland Billy Holland (born 3 August 1985) is an Irish former rugby union player, who spent his entire career playing for his native province of Munster Rugby, Munster, whilst also earning a single international cap for Ireland national rugby union te ...

to become the second most capped Munster player of all-time when he won his 248th cap for the province in their 36–17 away defeat against

in the quarter-finals 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 3 June 2022. Archer earned his 250th cap for Munster in their

2022–23 United Rugby Championship The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship is the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022. For sponsorship reasons it is known in South Africa as Vodacom United Rugby Champions ...

round three fixture against Italian side

Zebre Parma 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 1 October 2022, coming in as a replacement for

Keynan Knox Keynan Knox (born 6 April 1999) is a South African rugby union player for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup. He plays as a prop and represents Young Munster in the All-Ireland League. Early life Born ...

. He signed a one-year contract extension with Munster in February 2023.

Ireland

Archer has represented

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 ...

at underage levels up to Under-20. He received his first senior call-up when he was selected in the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

squad for their game against

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

in January 2012. He went on to make his Wolfhounds debut against England Saxons on 28 January 2012. Archer was selected on the bench for Ireland's

2013 Six Nations Championship The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

game against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 9 March 2013, his first senior call-up, though he did not come on during the 13–13 draw. Archer made his senior debut for Ireland a week later, coming off the bench against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. On 23 October 2013, Archer was named in the Ireland squad for the 2013 Autumn Tests. He came off the bench against

on 16 November 2013 to win his second, and, so far, last, cap. Archer came off the bench for

against

on 25 January 2014. He was named in the Ireland squad for the 2014 Guinness Series on 21 October 2014. Archer 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 started in the opening 25–0 win against Emerging Italy on 13 June 2015. Archer started in the 33–7 win 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. He also started in the 45–12 win against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on 21 June 2015, a win which secured the tournament for Emerging Ireland.

Honours

Emerging Ireland

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

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 Apri ...

)

References

External links

*
Munster ProfileIreland Profile
*
URC ProfileU20 Six Nations Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Stephen 1988 births Living people Rugby union players from Cork (city) People educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork Irish rugby union players Cork Constitution players Munster Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Rugby union props