Simon Best (born 11 February 1978) is a former 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 ...

footballer. He played for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: si ...

and was club captain in Ulster's 2005/06

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 p ...

winning season. Simon missed the final game of Ulster' successful campaign in 2005/06 due to a broken ankle sustained while playing against

Llanelli 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 ...

in the penultimate game of the season. Simon is the brother of the former Ireland and Ulster hooker

Rory Best Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish former rugby union player from Northern Ireland and was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for Ulster and was registered for Banbridge RFC, having p ...

. He was educated at

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 ...

and has also represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

, U19, U21, U25 and A levels. He later studied Agriculture at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

.Arches Online – Alumni – Newcastle University
On 26 September 2007 Best was rushed to hospital in Bordeaux with a loss of feeling down his side. He was immediately pulled out of the Ireland World Cup side and returned home. On 25 February 2008, Best announced his retirement from rugby due to an irregular heartbeat. He stated he would no longer be able to sustain the high level of training that playing professional rugby required.

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Ulster profileIreland profileIrish prop Best forced to retire
1978 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Belfast Harlequins rugby union players Rugby union props Alumni of Newcastle University Rugby union players from County Armagh People from Craigavon, County Armagh People educated at Portadown College Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub