Conán O'Donnell

Conán F. O'Donnell (born 23 May 1996) is a rugby union player from Ireland. He plays as a prop.

Conán O'Donnell
O'Donnell on the beach in Mount Maunganui
Date of birth (1996-05-23) 23 May 1996
Place of birthSligo, Ireland
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight117 kg (18.4 st; 258 lb)
SchoolSummerhill College
UniversityNUI Galway
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2017 Sligo ()
2014–2017 NUI Galway ()
2017–2019 Buccaneers ()
Correct as of 29 July 2022
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2019 Connacht 21 (0)
2019 Sunwolves 5 (0)
2019–2020 Counties Manukau 19 (10)
2020 Highlanders 2 (0)
2022 Northland 6 (0)
2023– Toronto Arrows 10 (0)
Correct as of 12 August 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014 Ireland U18 5 (0)
2015–2016 Ireland U20 15 (0)
Correct as of 29 July 2022

Early life

O'Donnell was born in Sligo. In his youth he played a number of sports, including Gaelic football and hurling. He first played rugby with Strandhill based club, Sligo RFC. Initially a winger, O'Donnell switched to prop at under 11 level. O'Donnell was a pupil of Summerhill College in Sligo town and played rugby for the school team. He received his third level education in NUI Galway, studying commerce.[1][2] While there, he played for the university rugby team.

Professional career

Connacht

O'Donnell was involved with Connacht at under age level throughout his teenage years and joined the team's academy in 2014.[1] During the 2014–15 season, O'Donnell played in the All-Ireland League for Sligo at senior level, while also representing NUI Galway in the Connacht Junior League.[3] After one year in the academy, he was promoted to the academy ahead of the 2015–16 season, becoming the first player from the NUIG team to receive an academy contract.[4]

In O'Donnell's first season in the academy, injuries to first team players led to him making several appearances for the senior team.[5] He made his debut against Cardiff Blues in the 2015–16 Pro12 on 3 October 2015.[6] His European debut came on 14 November 2015, when he was part of the squad that traveled to Siberia to face Enisei-STM in the European Challenge Cup.[7][8] O'Donnell's first start for the team also came in the Challenge Cup, when the province faced Newcastle Falcons away in the pool stages.[9] He made a total of eight appearances for the senior team in his first academy season, playing four times in the Pro12 and Challenge Cup.[6][7]

At the beginning of the 2017–18 season, his final year in the academy, O'Donnell joined Buccaneers who had recently been promoted to Division 1A of the All- reland League.[10] O'Donnell played with the Pirates when available, but also missed league matches to play with the Connacht Eagles.[11] In January 2018, he made his return to the senior Connacht team when he featured from the bench against Munster in the Pro14.[6] In March 2018, it was announced that O'Donnell had signed a senior contract with Connacht for the following season.[12]

Sunwolves

Upon the conclusion of Connacht's 2018–19 season in May 2019, O'Donnell left the province to join Japanese Super Rugby Sunwolves for the remainder of the 2019 season.[13]

New Zealand

After the conclusion of the 2019 Super Rugby season, O'Donnell moved to New Zealand to join Mitre 10 Cup side Counties Manukau.[14] He played for Crusaders in a pre season friendly ahead of the 2020 Super Rugby season, before joining Highlanders on an eight week contract as injury cover for Jeff Thwaites.[15]

International

O'Donnell has represented Ireland internationally at under age level. He was part of the Ireland schools team in 2014, despite Summerhill College not being a traditional rugby school.[2] O'Donnell made five appearances for the schools team.[1] He went on to play for the Ireland under-20s, featuring in all five of the team's games in the 2015 Under-20 Six Nations.[16] O'Donnell was subsequently named in Nigel Carolan's squad for the 2015 Junior World Cup,[17] and played in four of the side's five matches in the tournament as they finished seventh overall.[16] O'Donnell was young enough to return to the under-20s for a second season and played in the 2016 Six Nations,[18] again featuring in all the games.[16] He missed out on the 2016 Junior World Cup through injury, however.[19]

Discography

O'Donnell has appeared on multiple podcasts around the world. Most recently "The Petey Performance Podcast"

References
  1. "The Future Is Bright: Conán O Donnell (First year academy)". Irish Independent. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. "Hotshot: Connacht prop Conan O'Donnell". Rugby World. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. "NUIG student, Conan O'Donnell, is answering Ireland's call". NUIG Rugby Club. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  4. "Conan becomes the first NUI Galway player to receive a contract with the Academy". NUIG Rugby Club. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  5. "A Sligo 19-year-old could make his Connacht debut this weekend". The42. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  6. "Player Profile: Conan O'Donnell". Pro14.
  7. "Player Archive: Conan O'Donnell". European Professional Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  8. "Connacht Announce 24 Man Squad For Siberian Trip". Irish Rugby. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  9. "First Connacht Starts For O'Leary And O'Donnell". Irish Rugby. 18 December 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  10. "Buccaneers host Lansdowne in All-Ireland League opener". Athlone Advertiser. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  11. "Ulster Bank League: Division 1A Previews". Irish Rugby. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2018. they are missing the Connacht Eagles-tied quartet of Conor McKeon, Conan O'Donnell, Conor Kenny and Paul Boyle for this rematch
  12. "Three promising homegrown players sign pro contracts with Connacht". The42. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  13. "Connacht prop O'Donnell joins Japanese Super Rugby outfit". The42. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  14. "Irish prop O'Donnell features in Kiwi side's Mitre 10 Cup squad". The42. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  15. "Ex-Connacht prop named on Highlanders bench after joining on short-term deal". The42. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  16. "Ireland U20 Squad Profiles: Conan O'Donnell". Irish Rugby. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  17. "Carolan names U20's Squad for WRC". Connacht Rugby. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  18. "Ireland Under-20s can call upon a physically imposing pack in 2016". Irish Times. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  19. "Ireland Squad Named For World Rugby U-20 Championship". Irish Rugby. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
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