Tomás O'Leary (born 22 October 1983) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former

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 who played as a scrum-half. O'Leary played most of his career 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 ...

with

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 ...

, where he was part of the team that won the

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 ...

in 2006 and again in 2008. He also played in the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

, and the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

with

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. Internationally, he 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 ...

, where he was a member of the team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam. Also in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, he was selected for the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, though injury prevented him from touring with the squad. O'Leary retired from professional rugby in July 2017.

Early years

O'Leary was born in Cork, Ireland. The son of

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 ...

hurler,

Seánie O'Leary Seán O'Leary (25 February 1952 – 1 December 2021) was an Irish hurler who played as a left corner-forward at senior level for the Cork county team. Career Born in Youghal, County Cork, Munster, O'Leary first played competitive hurling wh ...

, O'Leary attended Saint Patrick's School on Gardiner's Hill before going to Christian Brothers College (CBC) for his second-level education. CBC has a rugby tradition and this is where O'Leary first started playing. He was recognised as a talent and played

Munster Schools Senior Cup The Munster Schools Senior Cup or Munster Senior Cup is the under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Munster Branch of the IRFU. The inaugural Munster Schools Senior Cup took place in 1909 and, since then, Cork city's two ...

for the school. During this time he continued to play hurling and won minor Munster and

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

titles with Cork in 2000 and 2001.

Club career

Munster

After he completed school, O'Leary chose to continue with his rugby career instead of playing within the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

. He was a member of the Irish U-21 side that reached the final of the 2004 Under 21 Rugby World Cup. Munster announced that O'Leary would be a member of the squad for the following year in August 2005. An injury to

Peter Stringer Peter Alexander Stringer (born 13 December 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player who played at scrum-half. He played 13 seasons with Irish province Munster from 1998 to 2011; he then played seven seasons from 2011 to 2018 in England wit ...

early in the 2005/2006 season meant O'Leary had a chance to play, making his

debut against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

in October 2005. He played his club rugby in Ireland with a Munster club, Dolphin. O'Leary played a prominent role in Munster's Heineken Cup winning campaigns in 2005/06 and 2007/08, especially in the knockout stages of the 2007–08 tournament.

London Irish

French television channel

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

reported that O'Leary had signed for

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, Franc ...

on a two-year deal on 17 February 2012, but a spokesman for O'Leary said the player hadn't signed anything yet and would be making a decision shortly. It emerged that the deal with Perpignan collapsed and, having rejected a deal from Munster, O'Leary was in a state of limbo. However,

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

stepped in to secure O'Leary's services on a three-year contract, with O'Leary joining the English side for the start of the 2012–13 season. O'Leary made his full debut for London Irish on 1 September 2012, in their opening league fixture against Saracens. O'Leary was ruled out of the rest of the 2012–13 season, after being forced to have surgery on a back injury in December 2012 which kept him out for the rest of the season. O'Leary returned from the injury at the beginning of the 2013–14 season.

Return to Munster

On 21 January 2015, it was announced that O'Leary would return to Munster on a two-year contract. O'Leary made his first appearance of his second spell with Munster on 17 October 2015, coming off the bench during the 35–17 win against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

. O'Leary came off the bench in Munster's opening pool game of the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup against

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

on 14 November 2015. On 24 January 2017, it was announced that O'Leary would not be returning to Munster after the completion of his short-term contract with Montpellier.

Montpellier

In October 2016, O'Leary joined French

side

Montpellier Hérault Rugby Montpellier Hérault Rugby (; oc, Montpelhièr Erau Rugbi Club) is a French professional rugby union club, based in Montpellier, Occitanie and named after the Hérault river. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, the ...

as a medical joker replacement for the injured Benoît Paillaugue.

Ireland

O'Leary was named in the Irish squad to tour Argentina in the summer of 2007 where he earned his first cap as a sub on 26 May. He made his first test start for Ireland on 15 November 2008 against New Zealand. O'Leary was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

and Grand Slam, starting four of Ireland's five matches in that tournament. O'Leary scored his first try for

in the 29–11

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition be ...

opener 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 ...

. O'Leary was awarded Man of the Match for his outstanding performance during Ireland's 27–12 win over Wales at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

on 13 March 2010. He broke his thumb against

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 ...

in October 2010 and was ruled out for 6–8 weeks. O'Leary recovered to fitness and featured against Italy and France during the 2011 Six Nations, but a troublesome back and a freak eye injury sustained during training ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament. Injury and the form of Conor Murray kept him out of the Munster team for the rest of the 2010/11 season, but O'Leary was selected in Ireland's training squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

warm-ups in August. However, O'Leary did not make the final 30-man squad for the World Cup in New Zealand. O'Leary was named 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 games against Scotland A and

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 and February 2012, missing out on selection for the 24-man squad for the

2012 Six Nations Championship The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

. However, a knee injury suffered by

Conor Murray Conor Murray (born 20 April 1989) is an Irish rugby union player who plays for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup. Internationally, Murray has represented Ireland and the British & Irish Lions, whom he ...

meant that O'Leary was called into the Ireland squad for the remaining 2012 Six Nations games against Scotland and England.

British & Irish Lions

O'Leary was named to take part in the

2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009. The British & Irish Lions played a three-match Test series against South Africa, with matches in ...

. On 24 April, however, during a Munster match against

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 ...

, O'Leary was stretchered off the field with a broken ankle, which ruled him out of the tour of South Africa.

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Correct as of 5 July 2017Tomás O'Leary
''ESPN Scrum'', 5 July 2017

References

External links

Munster ProfileLondon Irish ProfileIRFU ProfileIreland Wolfhounds Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:OLeary, Tomás 1983 births Living people People educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork Cork inter-county hurlers Erin's Own (Cork) hurlers Dual players Gaelic footballers who switched code Rugby union players from County Cork Irish rugby union players Dolphin RFC players Munster Rugby players London Irish players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Ireland international rugby sevens players Rugby union scrum-halves

Early years

Club career

Munster

London Irish

Return to Munster

Montpellier

Ireland

British & Irish Lions

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

See also

References

External links