Conor McKeon (born 4 january 1994) is a

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 from Ireland. He primarily played

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� ...

for most of his youth career, before changing to scrum-half at senior level. McKeon played professionally for 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 ...

in the

Pro14 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 ...

having come through the team's academy, and played his club rugby for

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

-based side

Buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 unti ...

. In April 2019, it was announced that McKeon would retire from rugby due to injury. His retirement came at the end of the 2018–19 season aged just 25.

Early life

McKeon was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and grew up in

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside (Dublin), southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Dublin. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16, 16. It is between the Lo ...

. He played rugby from a young age, with St Mary's, and also played

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

with Ballyboden St Enda's. McKeon attended

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

Ranelagh Ranelagh ( , ; , ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of Dublin 6. Ranelagh was originally a village called Cullenswood. It has a history of conflict, including the at ...

, where he chose to focus exclusively on rugby. During his time in the college, he played as a

and was part of the school's team in the Leinster Senior Schools Cup. After leaving school, McKeon joined All-Ireland League side Lansdowne. He received his third level education at

NUI 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 ...

, where he studied commerce.

Rugby career

Connacht

Having played under-age rugby for his native

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 ...

, McKeon joined the academy of rival province

in 2014. His second cousin

Eoin Eoin () is a masculine Irish-language given name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is Eòin () and both are closely related to the Welsh language, Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish and English John (given name), John. In the Irish language, ...

was already an established part of the senior squad. Despite being part of the Connacht academy, McKeon continued to play for Dublin-based Lansdowne throughout the season, as the team qualified for the All-Ireland League final. McKeon missed the team's victory over Clontarf however, as he made his senior Connacht debut on 9 May 2015, the same day the final took place. He came off the bench against

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 by t ...

, kicking two conversions. In his second season in the academy, McKeon joined the

-based Connacht Branch club

. He made his second appearance for the province against Zebre. Ahead of the 2016–17 season, McKeon was converted from a fly-half to a scrum-half by the Connacht coaches. Although he did not make any first team appearances during his third year in the academy, but was named the province's Academy Player of the Year, helped Buccaneers earn promotion to the top flight of the AIL and earned a senior contract for the following season. In his first season as a senior player, McKeon made just one appearance, playing off the bench in the

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as t ...

game against the

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

. In the 2018–19 season he made his European debut, coming off the bench against

Bordeaux Bègles Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in the

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 ...

. In that game however, McKeon suffered a serious shoulder injury. No time-frame was given for his return to competitive action. In April 2019, it was announced that McKeon would retire from the game at the end of the season due to his ongoing struggles with injury.

International

McKeon has represented Ireland internationally at under-age level. His performances for Gonzaga saw him called up to the Ireland schools team for the European Under-18 Championship in 2012, where he was starting out-half of the side that finished as runners-up in the competition. The following year, he was part of the under-19 team. McKeon was part of

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors from 2007 to 2010. He ...

's Ireland under-20 team for the

2014 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2014 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held in January, February and March 2014. France won the tournament and the Grand Slam while England won a Triple Crown. Final table Results Round 1 Round 2 Ro ...

. He made appearances in all five of the team's games in the tournament, scoring one penalty against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. McKeon was also named in the squad for Junior World Championship later that year. He was kept out of the starting side by

Ross Byrne Ross Patrick Byrne (born 8 April 1995) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team. Early life Byrne went to school at St. Michael's College, Dub ...

but appeared from the bench in all five of Ireland's games, scoring eight points, as the team finished fourth.

References

External links

Connacht profileEPCR profileIreland under-20 profilePro14 profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeon, Conor 1994 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Ballyboden St Enda's hurlers Buccaneers RFC players Connacht Rugby players Irish rugby union players Lansdowne Football Club players Rugby union players from Dublin (city) Rugby union scrum-halves People from Rathfarnham 21st-century Irish sportsmen