Which Areas in Ireland Are Best Represented in the Current National Squad?
The Ireland international rugby team goes back a long way and their first match can be traced to 1875, when Ireland played England. The game ended in a 7-0 win for England but the Ireland international rugby team was born.
Unlike international football, the Ireland rugby team selects players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Since 1987, only once have Ireland failed to make the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup and they have won the Six Nations 14 times, including three Grand Slams, the latest of which was won in 2018.
Therefore, the current Irish rugby team is arguably one of the best the nation has every produced. As of the 8th October 2018, Ireland are ranked as the second best rugby union playing nation on the planet, with only New Zealand ranked above them in first place.
Image Caption: The home of Irish international rugby
With the rugby selectors having both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland to select players, which areas in Ireland are best represented in the current national squad?
A recent article by Betway looked at north vs south in terms of where Britain’s best sports stars hail from and it’s interesting to look at the most recent Ireland rugby squad in the same respect. At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there were five Northern Irish born players in the squad but that has changed three years later.
The latest Ireland rugby squad to be announced at the time of writing sees just two players who were born in Northern Ireland. Iain Henderson, who can play at both lock and flanker was born in Craigavon and has played over 20 times for his country. The second player born in Northern Ireland to feature in the Ireland rugby squad for the three test summer series against Australia was Jacob Stockdale.
The 22 year old back, who plays for Ulster at club level, was born in Newtonstewart and attended Wallace School. Both Henderson and Stockdale play their club rugby for Ulster, the region which represents Northern Ireland in Pro14 and European club competitions.
There are other players who play for Ulster in the current Ireland national squad including Rob Herring and John Cooney but neither of these players was born in Northern Ireland. Therefore, the bulk of the Ireland squad is made up of players from Republic of Ireland.
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Which Areas in Ireland Are Best Represented in the Current National Squad?
This comes as no surprise when looking at the map as Republic of Ireland covers a much larger area than Northern Ireland and they have a greater number of people playing rugby. In terms of club rugby, Leinster, which is a club based in Dublin had sixteen players in the Ireland rugby squad which played in Australia. That means exactly 50% of the squad was based in Dublin and playing for Leinster.
Munster was the second most represented region in the Ireland squad, with nine players from the Limerick and Cork based team.
So, even by looking at which areas in Ireland are best represented in the current national squad from a club perspective, Republic of Ireland are clearly leading the way.
Image Caption: By Henning Schlottmann (User:H-stt) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
Interestingly, there are several players in the Ireland rugby squad who were not born in either Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. Whilst some of these players may have lived in Ireland for a large part of their lives, there are three players who were born in South Africa.
That means there were more players born in South Africa on the Ireland rugby tour of Australia than were born in Northern Ireland. There is little doubt international sport has changed a great deal in terms of who is eligible to play for which country. Across football, cricket and athletics there are many professional athletes playing for a country which differs to that of their birth.
Despite the fact that not many players in the current Ireland squad grew up in Northern Ireland, one of the best and most capped players in the history of the team was born and raised there. Current captain, Rory Best was born in Craigavon and has played over 100 times for Ireland leading them to a great deal of success. Ireland have won the Six Nations four times and the Grand Slam twice since Best has been in the national team.
With the 2019 World Cup fast approaching, players from all over Ireland will be working hard to make the cut for the squad. It will be interesting to see whether or not more players from the north can follow in Rory Best’s footsteps by making the team and perhaps help Ireland win the greatest prize in international rugby for the very first time.
