David Humphreys

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 10 September 1971) is a former

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 ...

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. He played 72 times for

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 ...

, scoring 560 points, including 6 tries, and at the time of his international retirement was Ireland's most capped out-half. He played his club rugby for

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

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 ...

, winning the 1998-99 Heineken Cup, the 2004 Celtic Cup and the 2005–06 Celtic League with the latter. Since retiring as a player he has served as director of rugby for Ulster and

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

Playing career

Early career

Humphreys started playing rugby while at

Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland. Admissi ...

,Jonathan Bradley, ''The Last Amateurs: The Incredible Story of Ulster Rugby's 1999 European Champions'', The Blackstaff Press, 2018 and represented

Ireland Schools The Irish Schoolboys rugby union team is the national team for secondary school students and under-18 school players in Ireland. There is an equivalent Ireland under 18 clubs side that play international rugby. Role The Irish Schoolboys side re ...

, captaining them to the

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in 1990. In the amateur era, he played for

Queen's University RFC Queen's University Belfast Rugby Football Club is the rugby union team of Queen's University Belfast, currently playing in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. Founded in 1869, it is the most successful and oldest continuous rugby union clu ...

, with whom he won the Dudley Cup in 1994, Ballymena R.F.C., and

Oxford University RFC The Oxford University Rugby Football Club (Oxford University RFC or OURFC) is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham. History Men's team ...

, for whom he scored all 19 points in a losing effort in the 1995

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

. He also played provincial representative rugby for

, making his senior debut in an away victory over

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

in 1992, and his Interprovincial debut against

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 ...

the same year, and was selected for Ireland under-21, 'A' and development teams.

London Irish

After rugby union was declared open to professionalism in 1995, Humphreys was approached by

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lions ...

to sign for

,Jonathan Bradley, ''The Last Amateurs: The Incredible Story of Ulster Rugby's 1999 European Champions'', The Blackstaff Press, 2018 then in Division Two of the Courage League. He made his debut for the club in January 1996, with Ireland coach

Murray Kidd Murray Kidd (born 1953 in Te Kuiti) is a New Zealand former rugby union representative player and coach. Playing career Kidd first came to prominence as a 17-year-old, being picked to play for Taranaki against the 1971 British Lions in their ...

in attendance. They were promoted to

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

the following season, but after poor results in the top flight, Woodward was replaced as coach by Willie Anderson, who helped them avoid relegation, with Humphreys described as the "catalyst" for their "Houdini-like escape", scoring 18 points in the relegation play-off victory over

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. The following season, London Irish struggled again. Anderson was sacked in mid-season, replaced by

Dick Best Dick Best (born 22 September 1954) is a former rugby union coach, and current journalist. Best was Director of Rugby at London Irish. He coached the England national team. England won 13 and lost two of the 17 games played when Best was their c ...

, and they again avoided relegation in a playoff against

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

Ulster

Humphreys continued to be selected for Ulster while at London Irish, starring in a win against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in February 1996, in which he scored 17 points - a try, three conversions, a drop goal and a penalty. He appeared for Ulster in the 1996–97 Heineken Cup, defying London Irish to do so,Bill Leith
"Rugby Union: Topping grabs spoils"
''The Independent'', 13 October 1996 but was unavailable for the province the following season, after the English clubs declared that they no longer considered the Irish provinces to be representative sides.

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

, the new

coach, led a drive by the

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

to bring Irish players who had signed contracts with English clubs back to Ireland for the 1998–99 season, Humphreys being one of them. He joined

Dungannon RFC Dungannon RFC (Dungannon Football Club) is a rugby union club from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. History The 5th Earl of Ranfurly, who was President of Dungannon Football Club for 24 years an ...

, making him available for selection for Ulster, and agreed a contract with the IRFU. After

Mark McCall Mark McCall (born 29 November 1967 in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland) is an Irish former rugby union player and current Director of Rugby (DoR) at Saracens. While DoR for Saracens the team has won the English Premiership Rugby competition ...

sustained a serious neck injury, Humphreys was named Ulster's captain, and led them to win the

1998–99 Heineken Cup The 1998–99 Heineken Cup was the fourth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, and Scotland, were divided into four pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. Cardiff a ...

. He won the All-Ireland League with Dungannon in 2001, and was man of the match in the final, scoring five penalties, four conversions and a drop goal, 26 points in all, against

Cork Constitution The Cork Constitution (CC) is a rugby union club based in Cork (city), Cork, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It was founded by staff of the ''Cork Constitution (newspaper), Cork Constitution'' ...

. For Ulster, he was the leading scorer in the inaugural

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

in 2001–02 with 122 points, and the league's leading marksman with 39 successful goal kicks. He set a Heineken Cup record for the most points scored in a single game, with 37 in Ulster's 42–16 win against

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in 2002. With Ulster, he won the Celtic Cup in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, scoring 17 points in the final, and the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, scoring a last-minute 40-metre drop goal in the final game to clinch the title. He won Ulster's player of the year and supporters' club player of the year awards in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, and the team's personality of the year award in 1999, 2000 and 2008. He won a supporters' poll for Ulster's all-time favourite player in 2008. He retired in 2008 as Ulster's most capped player with 163 appearances,Richard Mulligan, "New Role in Ulster for Humphreys", ''News Letter'', 5 June 2008 having scored 27 tries, 179 conversions, 326 penalties and 38 drop goals, 1,585 points in all. At the time of his retirement he was the Celtic League's top scorer with 786 points, and the Heineken Cup's fourth top scorerRichard Mulligan, "Fans poll punts 'Humph' heads above the rest", ''News Letter'', 7 May 2008 with 583 points.

International career

Humphreys made his senior debut for

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 ...

in the

1996 Five Nations Championship The 1996 Five Nations Championship was the sixty-seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship, and the first in the sport's professional era, which officially began in August 1995. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nat ...

. For several years he vied with

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 ...

for the out-half position on the Ireland team, with O'Gara ultimately making the position his own. Nevertheless, Humphreys won 72 caps for Ireland, captaining the side five times. He retired from the international game in 2006 as Ireland's most-capped out-half"David Humphreys: Most capped Irish outhalf and European cup winner"
Culture Northern Ireland, 10 April 2006, archived 8 April 2015 and second highest points scorer, having scored six tries, 110 penalties, 88 conversions and eight drop-goals, 560 points in all.Gavin Mairs, "Thanks for the memories David", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 9 May 2008 He also represented Ireland at the

1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament and the first to be held in Hong Kong. It was the last major sporting event to be held in the then British dependency before the transfer of sovereig ...

, and played six times for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

between 2003 and 2005, once as captain, and scored 33 points.

Post-playing career

On retiring as a player, he was appointed to the new role of Operations Director of Ulster, with responsibility for contract negotiations. The following season, he became the team's Director of Rugby, overseeing the senior team, the 'A' team, the under-20s and the academy. His role included player recruitment, and he is credited with signing South African stars

Ruan Pienaar Ruan Pienaar (born 10 March 1984) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half for the in the Currie Cup. Pienaar is the son of former Springbok fullback Gysie Pienaar. Ruan ...

, Johann Muller and

John Afoa Ioane Fitu "John" Afoa (born 16 September 1983) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. His position of choice is at prop. Afoa currently plays for Crusaders in Super Rugby. Personal life Afoa was a student at Auckland's Papakura High ...

, and persuading

Tommy Bowe Thomas John Bowe (born 22 February 1984) is an Irish former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. In March 2012, after four years with Ospreys in Swansea, Wa ...

and Roger Wilson to return to Ulster. In 2014 he became Director of Rugby at

. He left this role at the end of the 2019–20 season. He had a high performance consulting role with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

at the 2020

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

. In 2021 he launched a sports recruitment company, SportsWork.

Personal life

His sister Karen is a former international

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player, and his younger brother

Ian Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

was a professional rugby player, who played out-half for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and

. His son James is an Ireland under-20 international, and joined the Ulster Rugby academy in 2021. He studied law at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, He trained as a solicitor with Belfast law firm Tughans, under former Ulster and Ireland rugby international Mike Gibson. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

in December 2003 for Services to Sport and an

in the Queens New Year's Honours List in January 2004. He was inducted into the

IRUPA The Rugby Players Ireland is the representative body for professional rugby players in Ireland. Founded in October 2001, its aims are to promote and protect the welfare of professional rugby players in Ireland. The Chief Executive Officer is Si ...

Hall of Fame in 2008."Humphreys set to join IRUPA Hall of Fame"
ESPN, 1r April 2008

References

External links

*
Ulster profile
archived 26 February 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, David 1971 births Living people Irish rugby union coaches Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Ballymena R.F.C. players Queen's University RFC players Dungannon RFC players London Irish players Oxford University RFC players Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union fly-halves Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Members of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from Belfast Rugby union players from Northern Ireland Solicitors from Northern Ireland Alumni of St Cross College, Oxford People educated at Ballymena Academy Ireland international rugby sevens players Ulster Rugby non-playing staff