University of Galway RFC is the rugby team of the

University of Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

. Their colours are maroon and white.

History

The rugby club was founded in 1874 at the time the university was named Queens College Galway, which makes it the oldest club in Connacht. They played in the Bateman Cup competition many times and won their first Connacht Senior Cup in 1897. They have held this trophy aloft 34 times in all, more than any other club in the Connacht, and they have won the senior league 16 times. They won the Dudley Cup for the first time in 1905. They have had many successes down through the years, but a real highlight was the 1962/63 season when they swept the boards — they won the Connacht Minor League and Minor Cup, the Connacht Junior League and Junior Cup, the Connacht Senior League and Senior Cup, the OLBC Sevens and the Blake Sevens. Many of their players have played for Irish universities international teams, and 10 have been capped for Ireland, several while playing for UCG. One of those, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Captained Ireland to a Triple Crown in 1982, and subsequently the 1983 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

Current status

Currently UG do not compete in the All-Ireland League, but they participate in

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht B ...

competitions, and for 2023/2024 will field two teams at Junior League level (J1A & J2A). Their Under-20 team plays in the Irish Universities Conroy Cup competing against UCC, UCD, QUB, TCD, DU, UL & Maynooth. In League competition along with two other Connacht Clubs (Galwegians & Galway Corinthians) they compete in the

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby () is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Leinster Branch, one of t ...

JP Fanagan Under-20 League - in division Premier 3. They have also set up a Rugby Youth Academy in an attempt to help strengthen the club.

Women's rugby

The women's team was set up in the 2002–2003 season. Their first official game was in 2004 versus Sligo I.T. In the 2008/2009 season, UG women won the Connacht League. In the 2012/2013 season, UG contested the Colleges & Universities Sports Association of Ireland Div 1 College League Final against UL. In 2013/2014 and again in 2014/2015, UG won the Irish Universities Rugby Union Kay Bowen Intervarsity Cup.

Notable players

Steve Cunningham Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and betwee ...

* Seamus Dennison — played for

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 ...

in their historic 1978 defeat of the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Munster Rugby and has Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park from 2013 to 2015 in the Le ...

, executing a much heralded tackle against his opponents * Ciaran Fitzgerald — captained the British and Irish Lions 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 ...

and won a Triple Crown while captaining

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 ...

* Neville Furlong — scored the last try worth four points by an Irish player before a change in the game's rules * Eamonn McGuire — played for

Mick Molloy Michael Molloy (born 11 July 1966) is an Australian comedian, writer, producer, actor and television and radio presenter who has been active in radio, television, stand-up and film. He currently hosts '' The Front Bar'' on the Seven Network. ...

— earned 27 caps for Ireland between 1966 and 1973 * Dickie Roche — played for

, including when at university

References

Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby union clubs in County Galway Sport at the University of Galway Gal {{ireland-sport-stub