Alan "AJ" MacGinty is an Irish-born professional rugby player, who represents the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in international competition. He primarily plays as a

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– ...

. MacGinty plays club rugby for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

team

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 1 ...

Early life

A graduate of

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 18 ...

, MacGinty played with the

Blackrock College RFC Blackrock College Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club located in Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 by former pupils of Blackrock College. Their senior team currently plays in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League ...

academy before moving to New York on a visa where he began playing with NYAC. In 2012 MacGinty moved to Marietta, Georgia, where he began a master's degree in Sport Health Science and excelled on the rugby pitch at out-half for the

Life Running Eagles Life University is a private university focused on training chiropractors and located in Marietta, Georgia, USA. It was established in 1974 by a chiropractor, Sid E. Williams. History The university was founded in 1974 by Williams as "Life Ch ...

Club career

Connacht

Following his participation in the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, MacGinty was signed by Connacht for 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. it ...

season. Connacht head coach Pat Lam said the province had been following MacGinty since the

Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First he ...

earlier in the year. MacGinty made his domestic debut for Connacht appearing off the bench in their 33–19 win over Benetton Treviso on 6 November 2015. MacGinty made his European debut on 14 November 2015 in the first match of the 2015–16 Challenge Cup, starting at fly-half and scoring nine points. MacGinty led Connacht to a 28–23 bonus point win over Edinburgh in March 2016 and "controlled matters expertly" to manage Connacht's fifth consecutive win and maintain first place in the Pro12. He was pivotal in Connacht's Pro12 final win securing the team's first ever silverware.

Sale Sharks

In May 2016 it was announced that MacGinty would join English Premiership side

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the ...

when his deal with Connacht finished in the summer, with n-capped

Marnitz Boshoff Marnitz Louis Boshoff (born 11 January 1989) is a South African rugby union player who usually plays as a fly-half or fullback. He plays for the in Super Rugby, the in the Currie Cup and the in the Rugby Challenge, having previously played ...

taking his place at the province. MacGinty was signed as a replacement for outgoing international

Danny Cipriani Danny Cipriani (; born 2 November 1987) is an English professional rugby union player currently unattached. He most recently played for Premiership Rugby side Bath and previously played for Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Wasps in the Premiership a ...

Bristol Bears

On 10 November 2021 it was announced that MacGinty would be joining Bristol Bears at the end of the 21/22 season.

International career

Having qualified through residency rules, MacGinty made his debut for the in July 2015 against during the

. In the U.S. team's last match of the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup against , MacGinty scored all of the team's points, including a last minute drop goal, to win the match 15–13. MacGinty was the U.S. team's leading scorer throughout the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup, scoring 44 points in three matches. Following his performances in the Nations Cup, MacGinty was named in the American squad for the

. He featured in three of the team's four games, starting in each of his appearances and scoring 25 points.

International tries

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacGinty, AJ American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Irish emigrants to the United States Connacht Rugby players Rugby union fly-halves Life University alumni Blackrock College RFC players 1990 births Living people People educated at Blackrock College