Ciaran Gaffney (born 6 May 1995) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player from Ireland. He played as a fullback or on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, and also played at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

in his youth career. Gaffney last played for 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 t ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

, having come through the academy of Irish side

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

. Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Gaffney was educated in the Bish in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and the Cistercian College in

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 2022 it had a population of 5,542. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Crónán of Roscrea, Saint Crónán of Roscrea, p ...

and also studied at

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

. He represented Ireland in under-age rugby, playing up to under-20 level. A serious back and neck injury sustained while playing for Zebre against his old side Connacht at the

Galway Sportsgrounds Dexcom Stadium (formerly The Sportsground) is the home of Connacht Rugby. It opened in 1927 and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches since. Dexcom Stadium is able to hold up to 8,129 people without temporary seating. When greyhound rac ...

ended his playing career at the age of 23.

Early life

Gaffney was born in

, and grew up in

. He went to school in the St Joseph's Patrician College (commonly called "the Bish") in the city for his

Junior Certificate The Junior Cycle () is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the Department of Education (Ireland), Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculu ...

, and moved to the Cistercian College in

for his fifth and sixth year. Gaffney returned to his home city for his third level education, studying commerce and French at

. Gaffney began playing rugby at the age of four, when he joined Galwegians. He was a frequent attendee of

games, serving as a ball boy until the age of 13. Gaffney played rugby in school, playing for the Bish in the Connacht Junior Schools Cup and Cistercian College in the Leinster Senior Schools Cup. In addition to rugby, Gaffney played

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

growing up. He played for Salthill-Knocknacarra and

up to minor level.

Club career

Connacht

Gaffney played for

at youth level from under-14 grade up. He was signed to the Connacht academy ahead of the 2014–15 season. He played for the province's second tier side, the

Connacht Eagles Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which ...

, in his first two seasons. Gaffney made his debut for the senior team in November 2016, while still part of the academy, when he came on as a replacement in a

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

game against Irish rivals

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. He made his second appearance in January 2017. At the end of the season however, Gaffney did not sign a senior contract. Instead, on the advice of Connacht academy head

Nigel Carolan Nigel Carolan (born 27 December 1974) is a rugby union coach from Ireland. He is currently the Assistant coach to Scottish United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors. He was previously a Backs coach at Connacht. Before becoming a coach Caro ...

, he headed to New Zealand.

Zingari-Richmond

After arriving in New Zealand, Gaffney began playing for amateur side Zingari-Richmond in the Dunedin Premier. He was invited to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

head coach Cory Brown, a former elite player development officer for Connacht. The move was made with a view to Gaffney potentially playing for the provincial team and during his time in the country he was part of Otago's wider training squad.

Zebre

In August 2017, Gaffney signed for Italian

side

. The team's head coach Michael Bradley had previously been head coach of Connacht. Gaffney made his debut for the team on 2 September 2017 against the Ospreys. He made his European debut on 13 October 2017 in a

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

game against

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

. His first try for Zebre came in a Challenge Cup game against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. In February 2018, Gaffney was injured seriously playing against his former team,

. He suffered a ruptured disk and dislocated his neck and was rushed to hospital where he was kept immobile for three days before surgery could be performed. Gaffney was ultimately forced to retire from rugby as a result of the injury, having played 18 games for Zebre.

International career

Gaffney represented Ireland internationally at under-age level. He made one appearance for the Irish schools team in 2013 on the back of his performances for Cistercian College. Gaffney played for the under-20 team in 2014 and 2015. He did not play in the 2014 Under-20 Six Nations but was named in the squad by

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors from 2007 to 2010. He ...

for the 2014 Junior World Cup. Gaffney made his debut for the under-20 side against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the pool stages. He started and played the full 80 minutes of all Ireland's games as they finished fourth in the tournament. In the 2015 Under-20 Six Nations, Gaffney made his tournament debut and played in two of the side's five games, as Ireland finished fifth. In April 2015,

named him in the squad for the upcoming Junior World Cup. Gaffney played in three of the team's five games in the tournament as Ireland finished seventh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffney, Ciaran 1995 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Connacht Rugby players Galwegians RFC players People educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea People educated at St Joseph's Patrician College Rugby union players from Galway (city) Zebre Parma players Irish rugby union players Irish expatriate rugby union players in Italy