Shane Patrick O'Leary (born 12 March 1993) is an Irish-born professional

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 ...

player who represents at the international level. He primarily plays at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

, but has also played as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. O'Leary currently plays for

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

side the Miami Sharks. and for the

Toronto Arrows Toronto Arrows R.F.C. was a rugby union club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that played in Major League Rugby. The Arrows team was an independent off-shoot of the Ontario Blues provincial programme and was funded by a group of private invest ...

(MLR). He previously played for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...

, Irish provincial side

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 ...

, MLR side

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

and

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

in France. O'Leary qualifies as

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

through his mother and first represented Canada when he played for their under-20 team at the 2013 Junior World Trophy. He began playing for the senior team in 2017 after being called up for trials ahead of the mid-year internationals.

Early life

Born in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, O'Leary grew up in Tipperary. He received his secondary education at the community college in Killaloe. In his youth he played for the Scariff rugby team and made the Munster under-18 clubs side while a member there and later moved to

Young Munster Young Munster is a rugby union club based in Limerick, Ireland, playing in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. It was founded in 1895 and plays its games at Tom Clifford Park in Rosbrien, Limerick. The club has won the Munster Senior Rugb ...

. While at Young Munster, O'Leary was part of the

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

under-age set up. Shane's father Declan is coaching services manager with Coaching Ireland, working with a wide variety of sports.

Club career

Grenoble

Ahead of the 2013–14 season O'Leary moved to French side

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

, joining the team's academy. O'Leary had previously worked with Grenoble skills coach Mike Prendergast, who gave him his debut at

. Like O'Leary, Predergast was in his first season at the French club. O'Leary had also been assisted by

Rugby Canada Rugby Canada is the national Sport governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union in Canada. Rugby Canada was incorporated in 1974, and stems from the Canadian Rugby Football Union, a body established in 1884 that now governs amate ...

in his move to France, as the union had helped him to distribute information on himself and his availability to clubs around Europe in an attempt to break into professional rugby. Prendergast and O'Leary made up part a significant Irish contingent for the team, along with scrum-half James Hart, forwards coach Bernard Jackman and the captain Andrew Farley, an Australian-born former Ireland A player. O'Leary impressed in the academy and was handed a debut for the senior side in the

2013–14 European Challenge Cup The 2013–14 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 18th and final season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition. A total of 23 teams participated: 20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockou ...

, coming on as a replacement against

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

on 10 October 2013. O'Leary made four further appearances, playing in the home and away games with London Wasps and Viadana. He was a replacement in all but one of these appearances, starting away to Wasps.

Connacht

It was announced in May 2014 that O'Leary would be returning to Ireland for the 2014–15 season. He signed for the provincial side

, joining on a one-year deal. In his first season with the team O'Leary made four appearances in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

, scoring two tries. He didn't feature in the 2014–15 Challenge Cup but featured in the team's

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

to qualify for the following season's Champions Cup. All of O'Leary's appearances for the senior team in his first year came from the bench. In August 2015, he agreed another one-year deal with Connacht. In his second season, O'Leary played in three of Connacht's

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

games. He was used as a replacement against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in Galway, before starting the away fixture. O'Leary also started in the side's quarter-final meeting with his former club

. O'Leary continued to be used sparingly throughout the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. i ...

campaign, but injuries to Jack Carty,

AJ MacGinty Alan "AJ" MacGinty is an Irish-born professional rugby player, who represents the United States in international competition. He primarily plays as a fly-half. MacGinty plays club rugby for Premiership Rugby team Bristol Bears. Early life A g ...

and Craig Ronaldson led to him making more appearances later in the season. He made two starts and three substitute appearances in total during the course of the regular season as Connacht qualified for the league's play-offs. O'Leary was an unused substitute in the semi-final against

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

, but came on in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

against

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 ...

to help close out the game as Connacht claimed their first ever league title. He signed another contract extension in June 2016 to take him up to summer of 2017 with the province. In the 2016–17 season, O'Leary appeared as a substitute in Connacht's opening five

games, and in the opening two rounds of the Champions Cup. He didn't in the Pro12 clash with Leinster, but returned for the following round against Newport Gwent Dragons. That month however, O'Leary suffered a concussion injury in training. This injury ruled O'Leary out for some time and he failed to make an appearance for the first team for the remainder of the season. In April 2017, it was announced that O'Leary would depart Connacht at the end of the season.

Atlantic Rock

In May 2017, O'Leary traveled to Canada to take part in trials for the national team. While there, he joined Canadian Rugby Championship side Atlantic Rock. O'Leary played in a single game for the St. John's-based side.

Ealing Trailfinders

In September 2017, it was announced that O'Leary had signed for

in the

English Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divis ...

. Signing for Ealing also meant linking up with Canadian international teammate

Djustice Sears-Duru Djustice Sears-Duru (born 24 May 1994) is a Canada international rugby union prop who plays for Ealing Trailfinders and the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played for the Seattle Seawolves and the LA Giltinis in ...

Nottingham

On 29 March 2018, O'Leary will leave Ealing Trailfinders to sign for English Championship rivals

ahead of the 2018-19 season.

Rouen

On 18 April 2020, O'Leary signs for French side

in the

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

ahead of the 2020–21 season.

Toronto Arrows

In October 2022 he signed with the Toronto Arrows for the 2023 MLR season.

International career

Qualified to play for Canada through his mother who was born in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, O'Leary contacted Mike Shelley of

to inform the union of his eligibility after he was overlooked for the Ireland under-20 team. O'Leary was chosen in the Canadian under-20 squad for the

2013 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy The 2013 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy was the sixth IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, an annual international rugby union competition for under-20 national teams, second-tier world championship. The event was held in Temuco, Chile and was organize ...

. The faith in him was rewarded when he scored 45 points, finishing as the tournament's top scorer as Canada made it to the final, where they were beaten by the Italian under-20s. In 2017 after departing Connacht, O'Leary was called up to trials for the Canadian senior team ahead of the team's June internationals. He was named to make his debut with a start at out-half in the team's opening game of the series against on 10 June 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Shane 1993 births Living people Canadian rugby union players Canada international rugby union players Irish rugby union players Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Irish people of Canadian descent Connacht Rugby players Rugby union players from County Clare Rugby union players from County Tipperary Rugby union players from County Cork Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Canadian expatriate rugby union players in England Irish expatriate rugby union players in England FC Grenoble Rugby players Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club players Nottingham R.F.C. players Rouen Normandie Rugby players Toronto Arrows players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Canadian expatriate rugby union players in France Irish expatriate rugby union players Miami Sharks (rugby union) players Atlantic Rock players