Donnacha Ryan (born 11 December 1983) is an Irish 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 and current coach. Ryan spent most of his career representing his native province

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 ...

, spending 13 seasons at the club, before moving to French club

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

in 2017, where he spent the final four seasons of his playing career before retiring and joining the coaching team at

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

ahead of the 2021–22 season. He played primarily as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, but could also play as a flanker.

Early career

Ryan went to school at CBS Nenagh and played all his underage rugby with

Nenagh Ormond Nenagh Ormond RFC is an Irish Rugby union club based in Nenagh, County Tipperary. It was founded in 1884 as the Ormond Cricket and Football Club. The club plays in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League and was County Tipperary's first ever sen ...

, representing Munster and Irish Youths, before moving to

St Munchin's College St. Munchin's College is a second-level education college located in Corbally, Limerick, Ireland. The school was founded in 1796. It is a Diocesan CollegeDiocese of Limerick > Education > Post Primary or minor seminary. College Crest The colle ...

in Limerick, where he was a key member of the side that won the

Munster Schools Rugby 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 ...

in 2002. Ryan originally began playing rugby at the age of 17 in order to bulk up and earn selection for the Tipperary Minor Hurling team, but instead ended up pursuing rugby. He joined

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

amateur club Shannon, who play in the All-Ireland League, and won an AIL League medal with the club in the 2005–06 season.

Professional career

Munster

At the age of 20, Ryan made his debut for Munster against Ospreys on 3 September 2004 during a Celtic League fixture. 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 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 ...

on 16 December 2007. He played for Munster in their

2007–08 Heineken Cup The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The start of the tournament was delayed because of the 2007 Rugby World Cup ...

semi-final against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, and was on the bench for the

2008 Heineken Cup Final The 2008 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2007–08 Heineken Cup, the 13th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 24 May 2008 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The match was contested by Munst ...

against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, which Munster won 16–13. Ryan was part of the Munster squad that won the 2008–09 Celtic League, and he added a second Celtic League winners medal to his collection when Munster beat arch-rivals, and newly crowned Heineken Cup champions,

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 Celtic League Grand Final. After 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 ...

, he began to regularly partner

Paul O'Connell Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach. When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union histo ...

in the Munster pack, particularly 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 ...

, keeping

Donncha O'Callaghan Donncha O'Callaghan (born 24 March 1979) is an Irish retired rugby union player. He spent most of his career with his home province Munster, spending 17 seasons with the province and winning five major trophies, before finishing his career with ...

on the bench. It was announced on 13 March 2012 that Ryan had signed a contract extension with the IRFU. On 8 April 2012, Ryan won his 100th cap for Munster in the

quarter-final 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 ...

. He also won the Munster Player of the Year award for the 2011–12 season. Ryan started all of Munster's

2012–13 Heineken Cup The 2012–13 Heineken Cup was the 18th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The tournament began with two pool matches on 12 October 2012 and ended with t ...

pool games and was a crucial player in getting them through to the semi-finals. In December 2013, Ryan signed a new three-year contract with Munster. On 1 October 2016, Ryan earned his 150th cap for Munster during the

2016–17 Pro12 The 2016–17 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the seventh with a four-country format. It was the ...

fixture against

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 27 May, Ryan made his final appearance for Munster when he started against

in the 2017 Pro12 Grand Final in the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Racing 92

On 19 May 2017, it was announced that Ryan would be leaving Munster upon the conclusion on the 2016–17 season to join French

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 ...

side

. A neck hernia ruled Ryan out until the end of November 2017, though he made his Racing debut on 3 December 2017 and started against his former club Munster on 14 January 2018. Ryan featured as a replacement for Racing 92 in the 2020 European Rugby Champions Cup Final 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 ...

on 17 October, which the Parisian side narrowly lost 31–27. Ryan's final game for Racing 92 was their 19–6 defeat against

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara ( ga, Rónán Ó Gadhra; born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland's second most-capped player and highest ever points scorer. He is currently ...

in the semi-finals of the

2020–21 Top 14 season The 2020–21 Top 14 competition is the 122nd France, French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the National Rugby League (France), Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). After play was suspended following the 17th matchday of the 2019–2 ...

on 18 June 2021.

Ireland

Ryan represented Ireland at Youth U18 level and at U21. He made his debut for the Irish national team on 22 November 2008 in a test against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

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 ...

, Dublin. Ryan missed out on selection for the Ireland senior squad for 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 had to wait until the 2009 Summer Tests to play for Ireland again, earning caps against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. He was named in the squad for the 2009 November Tests, but did not earn any caps during the series. Named in Ireland's squad for the

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 ...

, Ryan made his Six Nations debut 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 6 February 2010 as a replacement. He made another replacement appearance 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 13 February, but did not feature in the rest of the tournament. He missed out on selection for Ireland's 2010 Summer Tour, but was back for Ireland during the 2010 November Tests and made appearances off the bench against

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 ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. Ryan missed out on selection for Ireland's squad for the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby uni ...

, but was named in the training squad for the

. He made his first start for Ireland in the World Cup warm-up 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 6 August 2011, as well as playing against France and

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 ...

. He won selection in the final 30-man squad for the tournament in New Zealand, and made three appearances at the tournament, including a start against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and bench appearances against Italy and

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 ...

. He was selected in Ireland's 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 ...

. He came off the bench against Wales, Italy and France, and made his first Six Nations start in the Round 4 game against Scotland, in which he was named man of the match. Ryan started in all of Ireland's tests against New Zealand in June 2012, as part the 2012 Tour of New Zealand, and the tests against South Africa and Argentina on November 2012. Ryan continued to hold down the Ireland number 5 jersey going into the

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 ...

, starting against Wales, England Scotland, France, and Italy. Ryan was added to Ireland's squad for the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championshi ...

on 17 February 2014. Ryan was named in the 45-man training squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

on 24 June 2015. He started in the first World Cup warm-up against Wales on 8 August 2015. Ryan came off the bench in the third warm-up game against Wales on 29 August 2015. He was selected in the final 31-man squad for the World Cup when it was announced on 1 September 2015. Ryan came off the bench in the final warm-up game against

on 5 September 2015. He came off the bench in the pool opener against

on 19 September 2015. Ryan started the second pool game against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 27 September 2015. He came off the bench for Ireland in the 43-20

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

defeat against

on 18 October 2015. On 20 January 2016, Ryan was named in Ireland's 35-man squad for the 2016 Six Nations. On 7 February 2016, he came off the bench against Wales in Ireland's opening match of the Six Nations. On 13 February 2016, he came off the bench against France in Ireland's second game of the Six Nations. On 12 March 2016, Ryan won the Man-of-the-Match award in Ireland's 58-15 win against

. On 25 May 2016, Ryan was named in the 32-man Ireland squad to tour South Africa in a 3-test series. On 18 June 2016, Ryan came on as a replacement in the second test against

. On 26 October 2016, Ryan was named in Ireland's squad for the

2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the ''2016 Autumn Internationals'' in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: ...

. On 5 November 2016, Ryan started in Ireland's test against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Ireland's 40-29 win was their first ever against New Zealand. On 23 January 2017, Ryan was named in the Ireland squad for the opening two rounds of the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by NatWest ...

. Having been dropped for the opening fixture against

, Ryan was restored to Ireland's starting XV for the four remaining fixtures against

and

Coaching career

Upon the conclusion of the 2020–21 season, Ryan, who hadn't been offered a contract extension by

, rejected offers from

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

clubs to continue his playing career and retired, joining the coaching team at

, where Ryan's former

teammate and Racing 92 coach

was director of rugby.

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Correct as of 5 July 2017Donnacha Ryan
''ESPN Scrum'', 5 July 2017

Honours

Munster

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 ...

**Winner (2): 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

**Runner Up (2): 2014–15, 2016–17 *

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 ...

**Winner (1): 2007–08

Racing 92

**Runner Up (1): 2017–18

Ireland A

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

: **Winner (1):

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 ...

References

External links

Munster ProfileRacing 92 ProfileIreland Profile
*
Pro14 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Donnacha 1983 births Living people People from Nenagh People educated at St Munchin's College Alumni of University College Cork Rugby union players from County Tipperary Irish rugby union players Irish rugby union coaches University College Cork RFC players Sundays Well RFC players Shannon RFC players Munster Rugby players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Racing 92 players Irish expatriate rugby union players Irish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers