Ruth O'Reilly

Ruth O'Reilly (born 12 August 1981) is a retired women's rugby union player from Tralee, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. She played as a prop for Galwegians RFC, Connacht Rugby and the Ireland women's national rugby union team.[1]

Ruth O'Reilly
Date of birth (1981-08-12) 12 August 1981
Place of birthTralee, Republic of Ireland
Occupation(s)Marketing manager
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002–2017 Galwegians ()
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–17 Ireland 16

Career

O'Reilly started playing rugby in 2002.[2] In 2014, she captained Galwegians to victory in the Women's All Ireland League.[1] She also became an assistant coach for Connacht Ladies and the manager of the Ireland women's Under-17 rugby sevens team.[3]

International career

O'Reilly made her debut for Ireland in 2012.[2] During this same year, she was part of the Ireland women's team that missed a connection and spent 17 hours on an overnight train travelling from Paris to Pau for a Women's Six Nations Championship match against the France women's national rugby union team, arriving only shortly before the match.[4] In 2017, she was selected as part of Ireland's team for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup hosted in Ireland. During the tournament, Ireland failed to reach the semi-finals and O'Reilly was forced to leave the team due to injury.[5] Before Ireland's seventh place playoff, she wrote an article published in The Irish Times criticising the Irish Rugby Football Union for a lack of support of women's rugby and the Ireland manager Tom Tierney for having "lost the dressing room".[2] Following Ireland's loss in the playoff in Belfast, Northern Ireland; fellow player Lindsay Peat defended O'Reilly for writing the article after criticism that it was O'Reilly's article that caused Ireland's loss.[6] O'Reilly retired from rugby afterwards.[7]

Personal life

O'Reilly originally worked as a marketing manager at a hotel before moving in 2010 to become a marketing and event manager for a medical company in Galway, County Galway.[3]

References

  1. "Ruth O'Reilly". IRFU. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  2. O'Reilly, Ruth (26 August 2017). "Ruth O'Reilly: 'The guys in the blazers need to decide if this is something they are serious about'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  3. "Tralee expat Ruth key to Ireland Women's Six Nations triumph". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  4. Gavin Cummiskey (17 February 2012). "IRFU take 'some blame' for debacle". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  5. "Irish Player Reveals Shambolic Preparation Ahead Of Rugby World Cup". Balls.ie. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. "Lindsay Peat refuses to blame Ruth O'Reilly article as Ireland crash again". Irish Examiner. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. Sean Farrell (26 August 2017). "Tierney walks away after torrid World Cup calling for bigger, better athletes to play for Ireland". The42.ie. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
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