Ciara Cooney

Ciara Cooney (born 18 January 1988) is an Irish rugby player from Galway. She plays in the second row for Wasps RFC, Leinster and the Ireland women's national rugby union team. She works as a medical research scientist.

Ciara Cooney
Date of birth (1988-01-18) 18 January 1988
Place of birthGalway, Ireland
Height1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Tullow RFC ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
20??
2015-present
2020-present		 Railway Union
Leinster
Wasps		 ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–present Ireland 21 (0)
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
Ireland 7s

Club career

Cooney's first sport was camogie and she took up rugby, initially with Tullow RFC, while studying at Carlow IT.[1] She got a trial for Leinster in 2015 just six weeks after taking up the sport.[2]

She joined Railway Union in September 2015 to get experience playing in the All Ireland League but continued to also play Leinster League with Tullow with whom she won a Leinster Division 2 medal.[3]

To move her rugby up another level Cooney joined West London side Wasps, in England's Premier 15s in the Autumn of 2020, where her teammates include Irish teammates Claire Molloy and Cliodhna Moloney.[4]

International career

Cooney made her international debut, in Ireland's first Autumn international, a 3–8 loss to England, in November 2015.

She made her Women's Six Nations Championship debut, as a replacement against Wales, on 6 February 2016. She was selected as part of Ireland's squad at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.[5]

She has been part of the Ireland team in the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 Women's Six Nations and amassed 21 caps. She missed the 2021 Six Nations due to injury.[6]

Injuries have interrupted her career at times but she was chosen, in the second row, by the Front Row Union website in the ‘Irish team of the Decade’ in 2021.[7]

Personal life

Cooney has a B.Sc. in Sport Science from Carlow Institute of Technology and a Masters in Science research from Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology and works as a research assistant, studying medical nutrition, for MET Gateway in Galway.

Honours

References
  1. "NO HALF MEASURES FOR CIARA COONEY". Rugby Players Ireland. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  2. "Six debuts in Ireland women's side for historic England clash". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. "NO HALF MEASURES FOR CIARA COONEY - Rugby Players Ireland". www.rugbyplayersireland.ie. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  4. "Cooney's a Wasp!". www.newschainonline.com. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  5. "Ireland squad announced for WRWC 2017". Leinster Rugby. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  6. "Five uncapped Sevens players named in Ireland squad for Women's Six Nations". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  7. "Ireland Women: Team of the Decade". The Front Row Union. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
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