Dave Nolan (born 19 June 1988) 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 Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He primarily plays as a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

. Nolan currently plays for

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Knights Rugby Football Club ''(formerly, Doncaster RFC)'' are a professional rugby union club representing the city of Doncaster, England. The club play in the 2nd division of English rugby, the RFU Championship. Being the most prom ...

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 ...

. He has previously played for

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 Ireland and Bourgoin in France. Nolan made his first appearance for Connacht in the

2009–10 Celtic League The 2009–10 Celtic League (known as the 2009–10 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the league now known as Pro12 and the fourth with Magners as title sponsor. The season began in September 2009 and ended with th ...

. His debut came on 25 April 2010, away against Welsh side

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

. Nolan started and played the full 80 minutes for his side as they lost 58–10. He also made an appearance for Connacht against the Newport Gwent Dragons as a replacement 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 ...

, playing for 20 minutes. During his time with Connacht, Nolan suffered a number of long-term injuries that kept him out of the game for long periods. He missed the 2011–12 season after breaking his leg in a pre-season game with

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. Another break to the same leg in training occurred shortly before the 2012–13 season, and caused Nolan to also miss that season. In April 2014, it was announced that Nolan's contract would not be renewed and he would be leaving the province at the end of the season. In June 2014 he signed for French Pro D2 side Bourgoin.

References

1988 births Living people Connacht Rugby players Galwegians RFC players Irish rugby union players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from County Galway CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players Irish expatriate rugby union players in France {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub