Nick Timoney
Irish rugby union player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nick Timoney (born 1 August 1995) is an Irish rugby union player, who plays in the back row for Ulster and Ireland. He is regarded as a "hybrid" player, an athletic forward with the pace of a back.[2] He was named in the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship Dream Team.[3]
Timoney in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Nicholas Timoney 1 August 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 112 kg (247 lb; 17 st 9 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Blackrock College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Queen's University Belfast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In his youth, Timoney played number eight for Blackrock College in Dublin, helping his team win the 2013 Leinster Schools Senior Cup, and captaining his school during the successful 2014 season.[4][5] He then played for St Mary's RFC in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League.[6] He played for Leinster's age-grade teams up to under-20 level, and won eight caps for the Ireland under-20s, appearing in all three back row positions in the 2015 under-20 Six Nations and the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, but was not offered a place in the Leinster academy.[5] He turned down an offer from Pau in the French Top 14,[2] and joined Ulster's academy on a two-year contract ahead of the 2015–16 season.[5] He made his first senior start towards the end of the 2016–17 season,[7] with director of rugby Les Kiss remarking that he had had a "very good year".[8] He played as a forward for the Ireland national rugby sevens team that played in the 2017 Sevens Grand Prix Series and took first place in the 2017 Moscow Sevens.[9]
He made 20 appearances for Ulster in the 2017–18 season, scoring five tries and making 222 tackles,[10] and was named Young Player of the Year and Academy Player of the Year in the Ulster Rugby Awards.[11] He was awarded his first senior contract in February 2018.[12] In the 2018–19 season he made 27 appearances, and was the team's leading tackler with 303.[13] In the 2020–21 season he made 17 appearances, making 212 tackles and 13 turnovers.[14] After Marcell Coetzee's departure in March, he became the team's regular number eight,[2] and was named Rugby Writers' Player of the Year in the Ulster Rugby Awards.[15] In June 2021 he was called up to the senior Ireland squad for the Summer tests,[16] and scored a try in his debut in a 71–10 victory over the United States on 10 July.[17]
In the 2021–22 season, with the arrival of South African number eight Duane Vermeulen, he has primarily played at openside flanker.[18] He captained Ulster for the first time on 20 February 2022 in an away win against Scarlets,[19] and made his 100th appearance for the province in the second leg of the Champions Cup round of 16 tie against Toulouse in April the same year.[20] He led the United Rugby Championship in tackles with 274, 64 ahead of Ulster teammate Alan O'Connor in second place.[21] He also led the European Rugby Champions Cup in tackles at the end of the pool stage with 78,[22] and was nominated for Ulster's men's player of the year award.[23] He was called up to the Ireland squad for their 2022 tour of New Zealand[24] and their two-match tour of South Africa in July 2024.[25] He made his 150th appearance for Ulster against Connacht in October 2024.[26]