Alan Quinlan (''Irish: Ailín Ó Caoindealbhain'', born 13 July 1974) is a retired Irish

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. He 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 ...

and was registered to All-Ireland League side Shannon. He retired from rugby in May 2011.

Early years

Quinlan was educated at

Abbey CBS The Abbey School (formerly Abbey CBS) is a Christian Brothers Secondary School in the town of Tipperary, County Tipperary, Ireland. The Abbey is an all-boys school which, as of 2024, had over 320 students. In recent years,} the school has been ...

in Tipperary and worked for a motor dealer after leaving school. He began his rugby career with Clanwilliam FC. Quinlan moved from Clanwilliam to join Shannon U20s in 1994. He captained the Irish Youth Team against Scotland in 1993. He normally played as a

blindside flanker Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes from ...

, but he also played

openside Cellarr (formerly known as Maybe Rave and OpenSide) is a band from Auckland, New Zealand, formed in 2012 by Jen Newton, PJ Shepherd, Harry Carter and George Powell. The original singer, Jen Newton, left the band in 2014 and was replaced by Poss ...

, number eight and second row for Munster.

Munster

Quinlan began playing for

in 1996 and captained the youths team before becoming a regular in the first team. In May 2006 he made a comeback from a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

injury earlier in the season to win both the AIB League Division 1 title with Shannon and the Heineken Cup with Munster after a late appearance from the bench in the

2006 Heineken Cup Final The 2006 Heineken Cup Final was a rugby union match played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on 20 May 2006, to determine the winners of the 2005–06 Heineken Cup, European rugby's premier club competition. The match was contested by ...

win over

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. He captained the side from Number Eight in Munster's upset victory over

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 ...

in Ravenhill in the 2007

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

. Quinlan was voted Man of the Match as Munster beat Toulouse 16–13 on 24 May 2008 to win the 2008 Heineken Cup Final. He was part of the squad that won the 2008–09

. In total he holds five league medals with Shannon, as well as two Heineken Cup medals and a

Medal with Munster. Quinlan won his 201st cap against Leinster, equalling Anthony Foley's club record for caps, on 2 October 2010. He became Munster's most capped player ever on 16 October 2010, against

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

in the Heineken Cup. In the 2009–10 season he represented Munster 21 times, including all eight of their 2010 Heineken Cup matches. In April 2011, Quinlan officially announced his retirement from professional rugby, to be effective at the end of the 2010-11 season. He played his last game for Munster on 6 May 2011, against

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 ...

in the

2010–11 Celtic League The 2010–11 Magners League was the tenth Celtic League season and the fifth with Magners as title sponsor. The regular season began on 3 September 2010 and finished on the weekend of 6–8 May 2011. During these stages, each team played ever ...

, scoring a try to mark the end of his remarkable career and going off to a standing ovation from the Munster and Connacht supporters. He joined the Munster team at the

2011 Celtic League Grand Final The 2010-11 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Celtic League season. The final was won by Munster who defeated Leinster by 19–9 at Thomond Park to claim their third Celtic League title. Background and Build Up 20 ...

trophy presentation, celebrating Munster's 19–9 victory over old rivals Leinster in

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 ...

Ireland

Quinlan represented Ireland 'A' between 1998 and 2001 and made his senior debut for the Irish national team in October 1999, as a replacement in a test against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He played his first Six Nations match against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

in a 41-22 win. He was a part of Ireland's squad at the 2003 World Cup in Australia and scored two tries in the tournament before dislocating his shoulder scoring a vital try against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the pool stages on 26 October, which ended his involvement. He was named in Ireland's 2007 World Cup squad but did not make any appearances. Quinlan took his caps to a total of 27 by playing in the Autumn Internationals of 2008 against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and 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 ...

British & Irish Lions

On 21 April 2009, Quinlan was named in the squad for the 2009 Lions tour of South Africa. During Munsters Heineken cup semi-final defeat to

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 ...

in May 2009, Quinlan was cited for making contact with the eye or eye area of Leinster captain Leo Cullen. The offence was deemed at the low range of seriousness and he received a 12 playing week ban until 9 September 2009. As a result, he missed the Lions tour to South Africa.

Post-retirement

Quinlan was a co-commentator for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

's coverage of the 2011 World Cup. He regularly commentates with

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

on their rugby coverage.

Personal life

Quinlan married Irish model Ruth Griffin in Tipperary town during the summer of 2008. They have one son named AJ who was born in January 2009. They later split up in June 2010. He released an autobiography, entitled 'Quinlan: Red Blooded', in 2010. Quinlan is a big golf fan and supports

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Correct as of 5 July 2017Stats – Alan Quinlan
''ESPN Scrum'', 5 July 2017

Honours

Munster *

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pr ...

: ** Winner (2): 2005–06, 2007–08 *

United Rugby Championship 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 ...

: ** Winner (2): 2002–03, 2008–09 * Celtic Cup: ** Winner (1): 2004–05

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland ProfilePro14 Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinlan, Alan 1974 births Living people People educated at The Abbey School (Tipperary) Rugby union players from County Tipperary People from Tipperary (town) Irish rugby union players Munster Rugby players Shannon RFC players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players