Eimear Considine (born 8 May 1991) is an Irish rugby player from Kilmihil, County Clare. She plays for UL Bohemians and

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

and has played at full-back and wing for Ireland women's rugby union team since 2017. She works as a secondary school teacher.

Club career

Considine comes from Kilmihil in County Clare, and was a

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men only ...

player for her county. She was aged 18 when she won ‘Player of the Match’ in the Ladies Gaelic Football Association All-Ireland Intermediate Championship final in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and h ...

in 2009. She did not take up rugby until she was 23, when she moved to Dublin in 2014 to start teaching. She was initially recruited by the Ireland women's national rugby sevens (2013) and was part of their team's bid to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. She joined Limerick club UL Bohemians in 2016 and won an All-Ireland league title with them in 2017.

International career

Sevens

Considine played for the Ireland women's sevens team from 2013 to 2016. She made her competitive Sevens debut in June 2015 at Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series in Kazan and was in the Irish squad for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2015–2016 in Dubai and São Paulo.

Fifteens

Considine got her first Irish cap, as a replacement against Scotland, in the 2017 Women's Six Nations Championship, after playing just three and a half games of VXs rugby. She also played for Ireland's national team before she played for her club UL Bohemians. She was a member of Ireland's team for the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dub ...

. In 2018, she took a year off sport in 2018 to travel abroad. Considine was originally a winger, but was given the full-back role for Ireland in the 2020 and 2021 Women's Six Nations. She scored two tries in Ireland's 2021 Women's Six Nations opening round 45–0 defeat of Wales.

Personal life

Considine graduated with a degree in PE and Irish from the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

(2008-2012). Before she concentrated on rugby, she was a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, th ...

. In 2008, she played for Clare in four All-Ireland finals - minor finals in

and ladies Gaelic football and Intermediate ladies' football final plus an All-Ireland club camogie final with Kilmaley. In 2009, she won an All-Ireland Intermediate football title with Clare and was nominated for an LGFA Allstar. Considine teaches PE and Irish in Dublin and is a fluent in Irish. She was a pundit on Eirsport TV's coverage of the 2019 World Cup and, in November 2020, was part of

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

television's first all-female analysis team for a

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

game. She is also one of the presenters of the "House of Rugby" podcast. In 2020, speaking as an ambassador for Rugby Players Ireland 'Tackle Your Feelings' campaign to promote mental wellbeing in schools, Considine revealed a family tragedy. Her father had a heart attack and died after a family walk when she was just 14. Considine's sister, Ailish, also played for Clare in camogie and ladies football. In 2019, she was the first Irishwoman to win a Premiership medal in the

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, ...

in Australia, with

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

References

External links

Irish Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Considine, Eimear 1991 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ladies' Gaelic footballers who switched code Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Rugby union players from County Clare