Seán French (born 14 August 1999) is an Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player for English

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, whe ...

club

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pr ...

. He plays as a centre,

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Early life

Born in Cork, French won the Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup in 2017 with Presentation Brothers College, alongside former Munster teammates Jonathan Wren and Jack O'Sullivan, with French scoring all of PBC's points in their 11–3 victory. He was subsequently named in the top XV for the tournament that year. French also represented Munster at under-18 and under-19 level, as well as Ireland at under-18 and under-19 level.

Career

Cork Constitution

French was part of the Cork Con team that won the Munster Senior Cup during the 2018–19 season. He also scored a try in Con's 23–3 win against

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

on 28 April 2019, a victory that ensured Con progressed to the final of the 2018–19 All-Ireland League against Clontarf, and went on to start in the final, which Con won 28–13. French scored nine points in Con's 24–17 win against Young Munster in the final of the 2019–20 Munster Senior Cup on 20 December 2019.

Munster

French joined the Munster academy ahead of the 2018–19 season, and made his first appearance for Munster A in their 24–16 win against

Connacht Eagles Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial 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 Conn ...

in round 1 of the

2018–19 Celtic Cup The 2018 Celtic Cup is the inaugural edition of the Celtic Cup rugby union competition, which features development regional and provincial teams from Ireland and Wales. It ran for six weeks from September 2018 until October 2018. Leinster A won t ...

on 7 September 2018, before going on to feature in all Munster A's fixtures in the tournament. French made his senior competitive debut for Munster against Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma ( Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated b ...

in round 8 of the

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''PRO ...

on 30 November 2020, coming on in the 21st minute as a replacement for injured fullback Matt Gallagher and scoring a try in the province's 52–3 win. He joined the Munster senior squad on a one-year contract for the 2021–22 season, and made his first start for Munster in their 18–13 home win against provincial rivals

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

in round 10 of the

2021–22 United Rugby Championship The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, ...

on 8 January 2022. French left Munster at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Bedford Blues

French joined English

club

ahead of the 2022–23 season.

Ireland

French was selected in the Ireland under-20's squad for the

2019 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2019 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 12th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. France were the defending champions. Ireland won the tournament and a Grand Slam, a ...

, featuring off the bench in the opening 35–27 win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and starting in the wins against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, the latter of which secured Ireland's first grand slam since 2007. He was retained in the under-20s squad for the

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the twelfth edition of the premier age-grade competition for rugby. The tournament was held in Argentina for the second time, having been hosted there in 2010. Defending champions France won the un ...

, and featured off the bench in the opening fixture against

, preventing English lock Joel Kpoku from scoring a try and helping to set up

John Hodnett John Hodnett (born 10 January 1999) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Munster. Early life and education Born in Rosscarbery, County Cork, Hodnett attended Mount Saint Michael's and first ...

's try to seal Ireland's 46–26 win. However, French sustained a facial injury during the game which ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament.

Honours

Presentation Brothers College

* Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup: **Winner (1): 2017

Cork Constitution

* All-Ireland League Division 1A: **Winner (1): 2018–19 * Munster Senior Cup: **Winner (2): 2018–19, 2019–20

Ireland under-20s

Six Nations Under 20s Championship The Six Nations Under 20s Championship is an international rugby union tournament. It is the under-20s equivalent of the Six Nations Championship. Originally the tournament was in an under-21 format but changed to under-20s in 2008. England ...

: **Winner (1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Grand Slam: **Winner (1):

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * T ...

: ** Winner (1):

References

External links

Munster Senior ProfileU20 Six Nations ProfileURC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Seán 1999 births Living people People educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork Rugby union players from Cork (city) Irish rugby union players Cork Constitution players Munster Rugby players Bedford Blues players Irish expatriate rugby union players in England Rugby union centres Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks