The Irish Exiles is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

representative team featuring players selected from the

Irish diaspora The Irish diaspora () refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner, Roy; Meeder, Sven (2017). The Irish ...

, many based in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. The team was established in 1989 by

Tom Kiernan Thomas Joseph Kiernan (7 January 1939 – 3 February 2022) was an Ireland international rugby union player. He won 54 caps for Ireland as a full-back between 1960 and 1973 and captained his country 24 times. At the time of his retirement he w ...

. It was officially recognised by the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

and during the 1990s was effectively a fifth provincial team along with

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

and

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

. Between 1992 and 1993 and 1995–96 the Irish Exiles entered the

IRFU Interprovincial Championship The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was a rugby union competition between the four provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht – and, for a brief period the Irish Exiles, run by the Irish Rugby Football Union. History Or ...

. The Irish Exiles also acts as an academy system for players from the Irish diaspora who wish to play for the men's national team and other IRFU national teams including the women's national team, the men's sevens team and the women's sevens team.

History

Early years

The Irish Exiles organisation was originally established by

in 1989 following a meeting in London. The aim of the Irish Exiles was to give

players wishing to represent the

Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champio ...

the opportunity to play for a representative team. The Irish Exiles subsequently became a formal sub-committee of the

. Kiernan became the first chairman of the Exiles organisation. His successors included Barry O'Driscoll. The Exiles would eventually become a full branch of the IRFU. In addition to establishing a senior representative team, the Exiles also established under 21 and student teams. During their first two seasons the Exiles played friendlies against

at Ravenhill and a Welsh Exiles XV. The first senior XV coach was Ken Kennedy. An under 21/student team also played the Ireland U21s at the

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

ground in

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames, known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other su ...

. During the 1992–93 season an Irish Exiles XV also played an away friendly against the

Basque Country national rugby union team Basque Country national rugby union team (Basque: ''Euskadiko errugbi selekzioa'') is the national and/or representative rugby union team of the Basque Country. It is also sometimes referred to as the Basque Selection. They made their internatio ...

IRFU Interprovincial Championship

Between 1992 and 1993 and 1995–96 the Irish Exiles entered the

. Before this

players, including

Jim Staples James Edward Staples (born 20 October 1965 in Bermondsey) is a former rugby union footballer. He played as a fullback. He had 26 caps for Ireland, scoring 5 tries and 2 conversions, 25 points in aggregate. He played club rugby for London Iris ...

Simon Geoghegan Simon Patrick Geoghegan (born 1 September 1968) is an Irish former rugby union player who played at wing in England for London Irish and Bath and in the Irish Inter-provincial Championships for Connacht Rugby and the Irish Exiles. He finished ...

and John O'Driscoll were usually invited to represent

in the championship. Staples and Geoghegan subsequently represented the Exiles and O'Driscoll coached the team. Other

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

internationals to represent the Exiles in the championship included

David Curtis David Curtis may refer to: *David Curtis (rugby union) David Michael Curtis (born 10 April 1965) is a former Zimbabwean-born Irish rugby union international. He also played some first-class cricket while at Oxford University. Career Curtis wa ...

Gary Halpin Gary Halpin (14 February 1966 – 23 February 2021) was an Irish rugby union international player and champion hammer thrower. He played as a prop for Wanderers F.C., Leinster, London Irish, Harlequins and Ireland. He scored a try against New Z ...

and

Rob Saunders Rob Saunders (born 5 August 1968 in Nottingham) is a former Irish rugby union international player who played as a scrum-half. He played for the Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atl ...

Mat Keenan Mata'afa George Keenan (born Rarotonga, 26 October 1960) is a Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The ...

, a

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabit ...

international also played for the Exiles in the competition.

Interprovincial Championship Record (1992–1996)

''†Matches were played as part of the

Irish Interprovincial Rugby Championship The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was a rugby union competition between the four provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht – and, for a brief period the Irish Exiles, run by the Irish Rugby Football Union. History Or ...

.''Table based results in the Irish rugby team history archive https://www.irishrugby.ie/irfu/history/archived-team-history/
''Correct as of 9 February 2021.''

Academy

The Irish Exiles operates as a scouting and recruitment programme for

players interested in playing for the

, the

Ireland women's national rugby union team The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA ...

, the

Ireland national rugby sevens team The Ireland national rugby sevens team competed in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team was governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In May 2025 the IRFU dismantled the programme at the end of the 2024/25 season, i ...

and the

Ireland women's national rugby sevens team The Ireland women's national rugby sevens team participates in international competitions such as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens and Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics. Unlike t ...

. In addition to producing nearly thirty Ireland men's internationals, the Exiles programme has also produced three

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

–

Simon Easterby Simon Easterby (born 21 July 1975) is a professional rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the interim head coach for the Ireland national team. Early life Easterby's father is English and his mother Irish, so had Irish citizens ...

Rob Henderson Robert Alexander James Henderson (born 27 October 1972) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played mostly as a centre, for clubs including London Irish, Wasps, Leinster, Munster, Toulon and Esher. He represented Ireland internationally, ...

and

Nick Popplewell Nicholas Popplewell (born 6 April 1964) is an Irish people, Irish former rugby union player who won 48 caps for Ireland national rugby union team, his country between 1989 and 1998. He played club rugby for Greystones RFC, Wasps RFC, Newcastle F ...

. A number of Irish Exiles players have "slipped through the net" and have subsequently gone on to play for the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

. These include

Kieran Brookes Kieran Brookes (born 29 August 1990) is an English rugby union player who plays for Perpignan and played for England. He usually plays as a tighthead prop, but can also cover as a loosehead prop. He was educated at Kirkham Grammar School. Club ...

, Paul Doran-Jones and Shane Geraghty. Recent graduates of the programme include

Rhys Ruddock Rhys Ruddock (born 13 November 1990) is a professional rugby union player. He played for Leinster Rugby, Leinster and Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland. He plays in the backrow, at 6 or 8. In the 2009/2010 season, he captained the Irish ...

and

Kieran Marmion Kieran Marmion (born 11 February 1992) is an Irish rugby union player who primarily plays as a scrum-half. Marmion currently plays for English side Bristol Bears. Marmion came into Connacht's academy through the Irish Exiles program and plays ...

Women's team

The Irish Exiles also field a

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

team. A number of prominent members of the

have progressed through the Exiles programme. These include

Sophie Spence Sophie Spence (born 26 February 1987) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Spence represented Ireland at the 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. Spence was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat and . She was als ...

and Claire Molloy.

Notable former players

;

; internationals ; Ireland A internationals *

Adrian Flavin Adrian Flavin (born 6 June 1979 in Harrow on the Hill, London) is a former Irish rugby union footballer. Flavin was a member of the 1999 Ireland Under-19 World Cup winning team and also represented the Ireland Under 21s in the 2000 World Cup ...

* Liam Mooney *

Andi Kyriacou Andi Kyriacou (born 4 January 1983) is an English-born, Irish-qualified former rugby union player and current coach. Kyriacou played as a hooker for Sale Sharks, Leeds Carnegie, Saracens, Munster, Ulster, and Cardiff Blues before moving into c ...

* Ed O'Donoghue ; sevens internationals * Richard Briggs * Mark Bruce *

Kieran Campbell Kieran Campbell (born 6 July 1979) is a former Irish rugby union scrumhalf and current Director of rugby at Coleraine grammar school. He is the former manager of Ulster Rugby's academy and former head coach of the Ireland under-20 team. Born ...

* Jon Skurr ; women internationals ; women sevens internationals *

; internationals ; international

Notable former coaches

* Ken Kennedy * John O'Driscoll

Similar teams

: rugby union club founded by members of the

. This club is sometimes referred to as ''The Exiles'' or ''The Irish Exiles''. *

Scottish Exiles (rugby union) Scottish Exiles is a rugby union representative team featuring players selected from the Scottish diaspora. Its players were mainly based in England and as result the team was originally known as the Anglo-Scots. The team competed in the Scottish ...

: a rugby union representative team featuring

Scottish diaspora The Scottish diaspora consists of Scottish people who emigrated from Scotland and their descendants. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland and to a lesser extent A ...

players.

External links

Irish Exiles on Facebook

Irish Exiles on Twitter

Notes

References

{{Ireland national rugby union team Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby union teams in England 1989 establishments in England Irish diaspora sports clubs in the United Kingdom Rugby clubs established in 1989