Eric O'Sullivan (born 30 November 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 loosehead prop for

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 ...

and European Rugby Champions Cup side

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 ...

and internationally for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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'Sullivan attended

Templeogue College Templeogue College C.S.Sp is a boys' voluntary secondary school in the suburb of Templeogue, Dublin in Ireland. It was founded in 1966 and is run by the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), a Roman Catholic religious institute. The motto of the sch ...

and Trinity College, where he completed a business studies course. He played in the back row at school, and converted to the front row at Trinity.Jonathan Bradley
"How Eric O'Sullivan went from Leinster rejection to his first Ireland cap as Ulster loosehead's rugby rise continue"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 5 December 2020 O'Sullivan represented his native

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 ...

at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-20 level, but missed out on a place in Leinster's academy. Strong performances for

Dublin University The University of Dublin (), corporately named as The Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a research university located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dublin, whi ...

in the All-Ireland League caught the attention of Ulster and, after an appearance for Ulster's 'A' side in early 2017, He joined the Ulster academy. He made his senior debut for Ulster off the bench in their 15–13 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 ...

in the opening round of the 2018–19 Pro14 on 1 September 2018, and made his first start for the province in their 39–39 draw against South African side

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

on 21 September 2018. He made 26 appearances, including 16 starts, and made 251 tackles, while still an academy player, in 2018–19, and was named Young Player of the Year in the 2019 Ulster Rugby Awards. He signed his first senior contract with Ulster in February 2019. He made 18 appearances, including 10 starts, in 2019–20. He made 21 appearances, including 16 starts, and 155 tackles, in 2020–21. He made his 50th appearance for Ulster in November 2020. He made his debut for Ireland against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the

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

on 5 December 2020, replacing

Cian Healy Cian Eoin James Healy (born 7 October 1987) is a former Irish people, Irish professional rugby union player who played as a Prop (rugby union), prop for Leinster Rugby, Leinster and for the Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland national tea ...

. At the end of the season he was named in the

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''P ...

Dream Team. In the 2021–22 season, he has made 17 appearances, including 7 starts. He was appointed scrum coach of Ulster Women in July 2023.Jonathan Bradley
"I’m excited by potential of Ulster Women’s side, says province’s new coach Murray Houston"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 18 July 2023

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
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Ireland profileBanbridge RFC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Eric 1995 births Living people Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Irish rugby union players Dublin University Football Club players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union props Ireland international rugby union players People educated at Templeogue College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin