Thomas Ahern (born 22 February 2000) 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

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 Champions Cup side

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 ...

. He plays as a

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and represents Shannon in the All-Ireland League.

Early life

Born in

Ardmore, County Waterford Ardmore () is a seaside resort and fishing village in County Waterford, Ireland, not far from Youghal on the south coast of Ireland. It has a permanent population of around 430, that increases in the tourist season. It is believed to be the olde ...

, Ahern's parents were from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

GAA families and Ahern initially favoured those sports, but when a cousin's friend dropped out of a summer rugby camp being held just across the border in

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

, Ahern stepped in and ended up playing with Youghal RFC for five years, until moving to Dungarvan RFC aged 14, which was closer to Ahern's school. In his sixth year of school, Ahern moved to

Waterpark RFC Waterpark Rugby Football Club is Rugby Union club in Waterford, Ireland. It was founded in 1925, and plays it home games at Ballinakill, Waterford. The 1st XV currently competes in Division 1 of the Munster Junior League and in competitions or ...

and into the second row, having previously played as a fullback, and by this stage he was on the Munster pathway too, having linked up with the East Munster cadets and then progressing to the Munster under-17s squad and onto Munster under-18s and Ireland Schools. Ahern attended St Augustine's College and represented Munster and Ireland at under-18 clubs level, winning an inter-provincial title with the former during the 2017–18 season. He is currently studying food science and health at the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

Munster

Ahern joined the Munster academy ahead of the 2018–19 season. Due to a number of players being away for 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 ...

with

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 ...

, Ahern and the other academy players spent their pre-season training for the 2019–20 season with the remaining senior players, with Ahern pointing in particular to the influence veteran lock

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 ...

had on his development. Ahern made his senior competitive debut for Munster in their

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''PRO ...

round 4 fixture against Welsh side

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on 1 November 2020, coming on as a 61st minute replacement for

Jean Kleyn Jean Kleyn (born 26 August 1993) is a South African-born Irish professional rugby union player, currently playing for Irish United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Munster. He has represented Ireland after qualifying thr ...

in Munster's 28–16 away win. He made his first start and scored his first try for Munster in their 52–3 win against Italian side

Zebre 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 30 November 2020. Ahern was

Man-of-the-Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

for Munster in their 31–17 win against Italian side Benetton in round 16 of the 2020–21 Pro14 on 19 March 2021. Ahern joined the senior squad on a two-year contract from the 2021–22 season, and signed a two-year contract extension in October 2022. A shoulder injury sustained in the same month required surgery, ruling Ahern out until possibly March 2023.

Ireland

Ahern earned one cap and scored two tries for Ireland under-18 clubs against Portugal under-18s in November 2017, and won two caps for Ireland under-19s in their capped friendlies against France under-19s in April 2019. One month later, Ahern was selected in the Ireland under-20s squad for the

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the twelfth edition of the premier age-grade competition for rugby. The tournament was held in Argentina for the second time, having been hosted there in 2010. Defending champions France won the un ...

, his first call up at that level internationally. He made his under-20s debut when he started in the third pool fixture 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 12 June 2019. Ireland won 38–14, though Ahern left the field injured during the first half. He recovered in time to start in the 30–23 win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 17 June and the 40–17 defeat against

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in the 7th-8th place play-off on 22 June. Selected again in the under-20s squad for the

2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 13th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ireland were the defending champions, having won the 2019 Championship with a Gra ...

, Ahern started and scored a try in the 38–26 win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 31 January, as well as starting in the 36–22 win against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 7 February and scoring two tries in the 39–21 away win against England on 21 February, a victory that secured the

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for Ireland. Though the remainder of the tournament was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Ahern earned widespread praise for his performances. Though he wasn't called up to the senior Ireland squad, Ahern was selected to train with the squad as a development player during the 2021 Autumn internationals. Ahern was selected 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 that travelled to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

to participate in the

Toyota Challenge The Toyota Challenge is a rugby union competition hosted in South Africa by the Cheetahs, a team sponsored by Toyota SA. The first tournament took place at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein between 13 November and 26 November 2021. In 2021, ...

against

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

teams

Free State Cheetahs The Free State Cheetahs (formerly the Orange Free State), currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by th ...

Griquas The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cap ...

and Pumas in September–October 2022. He started in Emerging Ireland's 54–7 opening win against

on 30 September, featured as a replacement in the 28–24 win against the Pumas on 5 October, before starting again in the 21–14 win against the

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

on 9 October. Following the Toyota Challenge, Ahern was also selected in the Ireland A panel that joined the senior

team after round 7 of the

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 ...

to face an

All Blacks XV The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

on 4 November 2022, however, a shoulder injury ruled Ahern out of the match.

Honours

Ireland under-20s

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

: **Winner (1):

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

Munster Senior ProfileMunster Academy ProfileIreland U20 ProfileURC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahern, Thomas 2000 births Living people People educated at St Augustine's College, Dungarvan Rugby union players from County Waterford Irish rugby union players Shannon RFC players Munster Rugby players Rugby union locks