David O'Connor (born 19 May 1995) is an Irish

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 who plays for

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 plays primarily as a

lock Lock(s) or Locked 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 entertainme ...

, but can also play in the back-row. 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 ...

, O'Connor attended

Blackrock College Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

and was part of the team that won the

Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup The Leinster Schools Senior Challenge Cup is the premier rugby union competition for secondary schools affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and was first held in 1887. Attendances are high for a schoolboy ...

in 2013 and 2014, alongside future

teammate Nick Timoney. He joined the

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

academy in 2015, but was released in 2017 to pursue other opportunities, though he continued to play rugby with St Mary's in the amateur All-Ireland League, once playing against older brother

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

, before moving across Dublin to join Lansdowne. O'Connor moved north to join

on a development contract in June 2019, ahead of the 2019–20 season, and he made his senior competitive debut for the province in their 29–5 win against Welsh side

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 in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

on 29 November 2019, coming off the bench to replace Matty Rea with eight minutes to go in the round 7

2019–20 Pro14 The 2019–20 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the third season to be referred to as the ''PR ...

fixture. He made seven appearances in his first season with the province, and eight in his second. He underwent shoulder surgery in early 2021. He joined

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...

on loan in February 2022. He was released by Ulster at the end of the 2021–22 season, and joined the Trailfinders on a permanent basis. On 3 May 2024, O'Connor would return home to Ireland to join province

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 ...

back 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. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

for the 2024–25 season.

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, David 1995 births Living people People educated at Blackrock College Irish rugby union players St Mary's College RFC players Lansdowne Football Club players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union locks Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club players Rugby union flankers People from Skerries, County Dublin Rugby union players from Fingal Irish expatriate rugby union players in England