Fiona Hayes (born 13 September 1982) is an Irish former rugby union player. She was a member of the

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 ...

teams that won the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2015 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual Women's rugby unio ...

s, and that defeated

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

at the

2014 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup was the seventh edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup, and the sixth held in Europe. The World Cup Final took place on 17 August. All of the pool games for the World Cup took place at the Centre National du ...

. Hayes has also played

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

at intervarsity and intermediate level.

Early years and education

Hayes was raised in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, growing up in the Woodview area of the city, near

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 ...

. In her youth see played

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and also

boxed Boxed may refer to: * Boxed.com, a wholesale on-line shopping site. * ''Boxed'' (Eurythmics), an eight album box set * ''Boxed'' (Mike Oldfield album) * Boxed warning In the United States, a boxed warning (sometimes "black box warning", coll ...

. Hayes studied for a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () 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 became a university in Septemb ...

Association football

Hayes captained the

team that won the 2005 WSCAI Intervarsities Cup. On 1 September 2013 she was also helped Douglas Hall win the WFAI Intermediate Cup.

Rugby union

UL Bohemians

Hayes first started playing

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

for

UL Bohemians UL Bohemian RFC is a rugby club based in Limerick, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. It is affiliated with the University of Limerick. UL Bohemians are sponsored by UL Sport, Samurai Sports and HOMS Solicitors. The symbol of ...

, at the age of 23, while studying for her

at the

. In 2017 and 2018 Hayes captained UL Bohemians as they won successive All Ireland Division One titles.

Munster

Hayes has 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 ...

in the

IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of ...

. She was first called up to the Munster squad in 2009. On 10 November 2017 Hayes also played for Munster against the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

in the invitational team's first women's match.

Ireland international

Hayes made her debut for on 9 February

when she came on as replacement in a 25–0 win against . This was also the first time Ireland had defeated England. Hayes was subsequently a member of the Ireland teams that won the

and

s. She also represented Ireland at the

and was a member of the Ireland team that defeated

Personal life

Hayes has worked as a

youth worker Youth work is a community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In general, it provides an environment where young pe ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Honours

Rugby union

;

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home ...

**''Winners'':

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: 2 *

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

**''Winners'': 2013 * Triple Crown **''Winners'':

;

**''Winners'': ? ;

*All Ireland Division One **''Winners'': 2017, 2018: 2

Association football

;Douglas Hall * WFAI Intermediate Cup **''Winners'': 2013: 1 ;

*WSCAI Intervarsities Cup **''Winners'': 2005: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Fiona 1982 births Living people Irish female rugby union players Ireland women's international rugby union players Rugby union players from County Limerick UL Bohemians R.F.C. players Munster Rugby women's players Irish rugby union coaches Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Association footballers from County Limerick Alumni of the University of Limerick Women's association football players not categorized by position 21st-century Irish sportswomen