Jack O'Donoghue explained

Jack O'Donoghue
Birth Date:1994 2, df=yes
Birth Place:Waterford, Ireland
Weight:109kg (240lb)
Position:Number 8, Flanker
Amatteam1:Waterpark
Amatteam2:UL Bohemians
Years1:2014–
Clubs1:Munster
Apps1:203
Points1:135
Clubupdate:15 June 2024
Repyears1:2013–2014
Repteam1:Ireland U20
Repcaps1:9
Reppoints1:10
Repyears2:2016–2017
Repteam2:Ireland
Repcaps2:2
Reppoints2:0
Repupdate:17 June 2017
School:De La Salle College

Jack O'Donoghue (born 8 February 1994) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a flanker or number eight for United Rugby Championship club Munster.

Early career

Born in Waterford, O'Donoghue captained Waterpark to a Munster Under-17 title in 2011, a second title at that grade, having also won the All-Ireland title the previous year. He played for the Munster Under-18 Clubs team in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, captaining the side in the latter season. O'Donoghue also captained the Ireland Under-18 Clubs team in their games against France and England in April 2012.[1]

Munster

O'Donoghue made his debut for Munster on 19 September 2014, coming on as a replacement against Zebre in the United Rugby Championship.[2] He signed a three-year contract with Munster in January 2015.[3] O'Donoghue made his first start for Munster against Cardiff Blues on 14 February 2015, also scoring his first try for Munster in the 33–16 win.[4] He scored a try in the 25–25 draw with Scarlets on 21 February 2015.[5] O'Donoghue also scored a try in the 22–10 win against Glasgow Warriors on 28 February 2015.[6] He won the 2015 John McCarthy Award for Academy Player of the Year Award in April 2015.[7] O'Donoghue came off the bench during the 2015 Pro12 Grand Final on 30 May 2015.[8]

O'Donoghue started at openside flanker for Munster against Benetton on 5 September 2015.[9] He made his European Rugby Champions Cup debut on 14 November 2015, starting the opening 2015–16 pool game against Benetton.[10] [11] On 16 March 2017, it was announced that O'Donoghue had signed a two-year contract extension with Munster.[12] O'Donoghue captained Munster for the first time on 17 February 2018, doing so in the 2017–18 Pro14 fixture against Cardiff Blues and becoming the first Waterford player to captain the province in the professional era.[13] [14]

A knee ligament injury O'Donoghue sustained in Munster's Pro14 semi-final against Leinster in May 2018 required surgery.[15] He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in December 2018.[16] O'Donoghue returned from injury in Munster's 19–13 away win against Ospreys in round 16 of the 2018–19 Pro14 on 22 February 2019,[17] and won his 100th cap for the province in their 24–9 defeat against Leinster on 18 May 2019.[18] [19] He captained Munster and won the Man-of-the-Match award in the provinces 18–16 defeat against Edinburgh in round 7 of the 2019–20 Pro14 on 29 November 2019.[20]

O'Donoghue signed a two-year contract extension with the province in February 2021.[21] O'Donoghue earned his 150th cap for Munster in their 2021–22 Champions Cup round 4 fixture at home to Wasps on 23 January 2022, becoming the youngest Munster player to reach the milestone aged 27, and scoring a try and earning the player of the match award in the province's 45–7 win.[22] [23] O'Donoghue was long-listed for the 2022 EPCR European Player of the Year award when the 15 contenders were announced in February 2022.[24] For his performances during the 2021–22 season, O'Donoghue won Munster's Men's Player of the Year when the province's end-of-season awards were announced in June 2022.[25]

O'Donoghue captained Munster to a historic 28–14 win against a South Africa XV in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 10 November 2022,[26] and he signed a two-year contract extension with the province in December 2022, a deal that will see O'Donoghue remain with Munster until at least June 2025.[27] O'Donoghue was banned for three weeks after being sent off in Munster's 27–23 win against Northampton Saints on 14 January 2023.[28]

Ireland

O'Donoghue captained Ireland under-20s in their opening game of the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship against France under-20s on 2 June 2014.[29]

On 7 March 2016, O'Donoghue was added to Ireland's squad for the final two rounds of the 2016 Six Nations Championship, his first senior international call-up.[30] On 7 November 2016, O'Donoghue was added to the senior Ireland squad for the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals.[31] On 12 November 2016, O'Donoghue made his senior Ireland debut when he started in the 52–21 win against Canada.[32] In May 2017, O'Donoghue was selected in the squad for the 2017 Summer Tour against the United States and Japan.[33] He started in the first test against Japan on 17 June 2017, helping Ireland to a 50–22 win.[34]

Honours

Munster

Individual

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Double Header For Ireland U-18s And U-19s. 3 April 2012. Irish Rugby. 17 November 2016.
  2. News: Zebo Hat-Trick Against Zebre. 19 September 2014. Munster Rugby. 20 September 2014.
  3. News: Latest Contract News. 7 January 2015. Munster Rugby. 7 January 2015.
  4. News: Opening Win At Irish Independent Park. 15 February 2015. Munster Rugby. 15 February 2015.
  5. News: Munster Fight For Vital Points. 21 February 2015. Munster Rugby. 21 February 2015.
  6. News: Winning Ways Continue In Cork. 28 February 2015. Munster Rugby. 1 March 2015.
  7. News: Stander Scoops Player Of The Year Award. 30 April 2015. Munster Rugby. 30 April 2015.
  8. News: Munster Well Beaten As Warriors Claim Title. 31 May 2015. Munster Rugby. 13 September 2017.
  9. News: Shaky Start For Munster. 6 September 2015. munsterrugby.ie. 6 September 2015.
  10. News: Side Named For European Opener. 13 November 2015. Munster Rugby. 14 November 2015.
  11. News: Job Done In Thomond. 14 November 2015. Munster Rugby. 14 November 2015.
  12. News: Latest Contract Signings. 16 March 2017. Munster Rugby. 16 March 2017.
  13. News: O'Donoghue Landmark For Munster & Waterford. 16 February 2018. Munster Rugby. 17 February 2018.
  14. News: Losing Bonus-Point For Munster In Cardiff. 17 February 2018. Munster Rugby. 18 February 2018.
  15. News: Squad Update. 30 May 2018. Munster Rugby. 30 May 2018.
  16. News: 12 Munster Players Sign Contract Extensions. 4 December 2018. Munster Rugby. 4 December 2018.
  17. News: Report Vital Win For Munster Against Ospreys. 22 February 2019. Munster Rugby. 23 February 2019.
  18. News: Jack O'Donoghue Set To Make 100th Munster Appearance. 17 May 2019. Munster Rugby. 19 May 2019.
  19. News: Report Munster Fall To Guinness PRO14 Semi-Final Defeat. 18 May 2019. Munster Rugby. 18 May 2019.
  20. News: Report Munster Suffer Narrow Edinburgh Defeat. 29 November 2019. Munster Rugby. 30 November 2019.
  21. News: Player Contract Extensions Confirmed. 18 February 2021. Munster Rugby. 20 February 2021.
  22. News: Team Announcement Munster Side To Face Wasps. 21 January 2022. Munster Rugby. 23 January 2022.
  23. News: Impressive Munster romp into last 16 with convincing win over Wasps. 23 January 2022. Irish Examiner. 23 January 2022.
  24. News: Jack O'Donoghue In Running For Top European Award. 1 February 2022. Munster Rugby. 1 February 2022.
  25. News: 2022 Munster Rugby Awards. 14 June 2022. Munster Rugby. 14 June 2022.
  26. News: Report Munster Secure Historic Victory Over SA Select XV. 10 November 2022. Munster Rugby. 13 November 2022.
  27. News: Munster Trio Sign Contract Extensions. 13 December 2022. Munster Rugby. 13 December 2022.
  28. News: Jack O'Donoghue Disciplinary Decision. 19 January 2023. Munster Rugby. 21 January 2023.
  29. News: Ireland Under-20s Taste Defeat In JWC Opener. 2 June 2014. Irish Rugby. 19 September 2014.
  30. News: O'Donoghue Called Into Ireland Squad. 7 March 2016. Munster Rugby. 7 March 2016.
  31. News: Six Players Added To Ireland Squad. 7 November 2016. Irish Rugby. 7 November 2016.
  32. News: Ireland Win GUINNESS Series Opener With Eight New Caps. 12 November 2016. Irish Rugby. 12 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161113121339/http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/fixturesandresults/38490.php. 13 November 2016. dead.
  33. News: Schmidt Includes 9 Munster Players For Summer Tour. 16 May 2017. Munster Rugby. 16 May 2017.
  34. News: Strong Start Sets Ireland Up For Well-Earned Victory. 17 June 2017. Irish Rugby. 13 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171031073756/http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/fixturesandresults/39976.php. 31 October 2017. dead.