Johnny O'Connor (born 9 February 1980) 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 ...

coach and former player. He is currently a

strength and conditioning coach A strength and conditioning coach (also known as an S&C coach) is a physical performance professional who uses exercise prescription to improve the performance of competitive Athlete, athletes or Sports club, athletic teams. This is achieved throug ...

at his former club

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 ...

, having previously performed that role at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

. During his playing career he was primarily a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

. O'Connor spent most of his career with Irish provincial side

, making over 100 appearances across two stints with the team. He also spent four seasons with English Premiership side

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

in between. He also played amateur club rugby for Galwegians and Galway Corinthians. O'Connor played for at full international level. He made his debut for in 2004 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He made 12 appearances for Ireland, and was part of the 2006 team that won the Triple Crown. O'Connor was named 2005 Irish Rugby Union Players' Association player of the year. O'Connor received his secondary education from

Garbally College St. Joseph's College, Garbally Park ( Irish: ''Coláiste Sheosaimh'') is an Irish voluntary Catholic secondary school situated in Garbally Park, the former seat of the Earl of Clancarty, near Ballinasloe in County Galway. It is a single-sex boy ...

and is also a graduate of

Setanta College Setanta College is a distance learning college, with a focus on programmes in the broad area of human development and performance. It offers internationally accredited qualifications, ranging from Higher Certificate to Master's degree level. The ...

.He now has a son named Jack who currently plays youth rugby

References

External links

Connacht ProfilePro 12 ProfileERC ProfileWasps profileIreland profileRBS 6 Nations profileSporting Heroes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Johnny 1980 births Living people Connacht Rugby players Connacht Rugby non-playing staff Galwegians RFC players Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union players from Galway (city) Rugby union flankers Rugby union strength and conditioning coaches Wasps RFC players People educated at Garbally College