Declan Cusack (born 28 April 1988) is an 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, who is currently a player–coach at English

North 1 East North 1 East was a sixth tier league in the English rugby union domestic competition, formed in 1987 using the name North Division 2, involving clubs from the north of the country. There was also a division known as North East 1 that began ...

club

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. He normally 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� ...

but has occasionally 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 ...

Munster

He made his debut for Munster 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 ...

on 18 April 2010, starting at fly-half. He was part of the Munster A team that lost to

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates () are a professional rugby union team who play in the RFU Championship, Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. The Cornish Pirates team are the 'First XV' o ...

in the final of

2009–10 British and Irish Cup The 2009–10 British and Irish Cup was the first season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Friday 20 November 2009 and the final was held on Sunda ...

in May 2010. On 27 April 2012, Cusack came off the bench for Munster A in their 31–12

2011–12 British and Irish Cup The 2011–12 British and Irish Cup was the 3rd season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on Wednesday 21 September 2011 and the final was held on Fri ...

Final victory against

Cross Keys Cross Keys or Crosskeys may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Crosskeys, Wales ** Crosskeys railway station ** Crosskeys College, a campus of Coleg Gwent * The Cross Keys (disambiguation), several pubs in the United Kingdom * Cross Keys Inn, a ...

. On 5 May 2012, Cusack came off the bench for Munster in the last league fixture of the 2011–12 season against

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 ...

and scored his first points for the province, a conversion of Munster's fourth try. It was announced on 3 May 2012 that Cusack would leave Munster at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Gernika RT

Cusack made six starts for Basque side

Gernika RT Gernika Rugby Taldea is a Basque rugby team based in Gernika, Bizkaia which play in the Spanish League. The team was set up by some rugby supporters of the unfortunately bombed village, and is enjoying a steady rise in popularity in the region. ...

in the

2012–13 European Challenge Cup The 2012–13 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 17th 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 knockout ...

, scoring 50 points.

Plymouth Albion

He recently signed a short-term contract with

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

side

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have played ...

until the end of the 2012–13 season. He also joined the Plymouth squad for the 2013–14 season.

Doncaster

Cusack joined another RFU Championship side, Doncaster R.F.C, at the beginning of the 2015–16 season. Whilst at Doncaster, Cusack played a single match on loan to

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

during the

2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup The 2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup was the 46th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the 12th and final to follow the Anglo-Welsh Cup format. After this season it was replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup and was played for by ...

. He moved on to become a player-coach at York RUFC at the end of the 2018–2019 season.

York

Having previously coached at Doncaster, Cusack joined

as a player-coach ahead of the 2019–20 season. York won

in the 2019–20 season.

References

External links

Munster Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusack, Declan Living people 1988 births Rugby union players from Limerick (city) Irish rugby union players Munster Rugby players Plymouth Albion R.F.C. players Doncaster Knights players Doncaster Knights coaches Leicester Tigers players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Irish expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in Spain Irish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Irish rugby union coaches