Fionn Carr (born 17 December 1985) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player. He plays primarily as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

but can also play at

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Ameri ...

. Carr played most of his professional career for Irish province Connacht in the

Pro12 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 ...

. He also played for another Irish province,

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

in the past. Carr has represented Ireland at Schools, Under 19 and Under 21 level, as well as at international 'A' level and the

Ireland national rugby sevens team The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in several international rugby sevens competitions. The team is governed by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Ireland competes as a "core team" on the World Rugby Sevens Series, a competitio ...

. Carr currently plays at amateur level for

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

in the All-Ireland League. He is also the backs coach for

Catholic University School Catholic University School ''(C.U.S.)'' is a private (voluntary) secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1867 by Bartholomew Woodlock as a preparatory school for the Catholic University of Ireland, the predeces ...

in Dublin.

Youth

Carr started playing rugby with

at underage levels. At school level Carr played for

Newbridge College , latin_name = , logo = Newbridge College crest.gif , logo_size = 140px , seal_image = , image = Newbridge College.jpg , image_size = 270px , alt = Newbridge College and the R ...

. While at Newbridge, Carr played for the junior cup team once, and the senior cup team twice. Carr subsequently won a rugby scholarship to

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

where he studied Arts. He left the UCD rugby team in his second year of college and joined

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 18 ...

Professional club career

Carr played once for

during the

2007–08 Celtic League The 2007–08 Celtic League (known as the 2007–08 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh Celtic League season and the second with Magners as title sponsor. The season began on 31 August 2007 and finished on the weekend beginni ...

, starting on the wing against

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

Connacht

After finishing in UCD, Carr signed for the western province of Connacht. He was the top try-scorer for Connacht during the

2008–09 Celtic League The 2008–09 Celtic League (known as the 2008–09 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth Celtic League season and the third with Magners as title sponsor. The season began in September 2008 and ended in May 2009. Ten teams played ...

campaign, scoring eight tries in the league. This tally put him one behind the top try-scorer

Thom Evans Thom Evans (born 2 April 1985) is a Scottish former international rugby union player and model. He last played on the wing for Glasgow Warriors in the Celtic League. Evans's rugby career ended aged 24 on his tenth appearance for Scotland when h ...

. He also scored three tries for the team in six appearances in the

2008–09 European Challenge Cup The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup was the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended with the final at the Twi ...

. He ended his first stint at Connacht at the end of the 2010-11 season with 34 tries, 22 of them in the league and 12 in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

. At the time this made him the province's all-time top try-scorer.

Return to Leinster

Carr joined

for the start of the 2011–12 season. He made his first appearance for the team since the 2007–08 season against the

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. He made his first ever appearance in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

on 20 November 2011, against the

. In his first season back in his native province, he played 18 times in the league, with 3 of those appearances being from the bench, scoring 5 tries. He also made 2 appearances from the bench in the

2011–12 Heineken Cup The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at ...

, as Leinster won the competition. Fionn Carr 2012 Pro12 Final crop

The following season, Carr played 16 times for the province, but did not play in the

Heineken Cup pool stages Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 F ...

or the successful Amlin Cup campaign, with all of his appearances coming in the Pro 12. He scored only 3 tries, with those coming against

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in t ...

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff ...

and

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 b ...

. He left Leinster at the end of the 2012–13 season, having scored 8 tries in his two seasons there, all of them coming in the league.

Return to Connacht

Carr returned to Connacht for the 2013–14 season, having turned down the offer of a new contract with Leinster. His return debut came in the opening game of the

2013–14 Pro12 The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12 rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with Ra ...

against

. Carr started the game and scored a try. He played his first ever Heineken Cup game for Connacht on 11 October 2013, against

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

. Carr left Connacht at the end of the 2015-16 season.

All Ireland League

Carr joined

Naas RFC Naas RFC is an Irish rugby club based in Naas, Leinster. They play in division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club colours are green and white hoops with black shorts and green socks. The Club is the biggest rugby club in Kildare with one ...

in the All Ireland League in the summer of 2016.

International career

Carr played for Ireland at various under-age levels, including Under-19 and Under-21. Carr also played for Ireland's second tier international team, which is currently known as

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national team ...

and was previously Ireland A. His first appearance for Ireland A came in a

2009 Churchill Cup The 2009 Churchill Cup took place between June 6 and June 21, 2009, marking the seventh year of the Churchill Cup. For the first time in the tournament's history, all rounds were held in the United States. This was done in an effort to reduce the ...

against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. He also started against the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

on 31 January 2010, in a 17–13 loss. In 2010, the Irish Times referred to Carr as "Perhaps the fastest winger in the country one of Ireland’s outstanding performers against England Saxons this season".Turning game time in to show time
/ref> Despite his strong try-scoring record while with the province, Carr did not receive a full international cap. Carr played for the

in the Rugby Europe

2017 Sevens Grand Prix Series The 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix served as a European qualifier not only for the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament, but for two bids among the teams not already qualified for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Schedule Standings ...

, playing as the starting centre. Carr's performance in the 2017 Grand Prix helped the team qualify for the

2018 Hong Kong Sevens The 2018 Hong Kong Sevens was the 43rd edition of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, and the seventh tournament of the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series. The performance from this tournament determined the first fourteen seedings of the 2018 Rugb ...

and the

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Organised by World Rugby, it was held at AT&T Park, now known as Oracle Park, in San Francisco, United States. A total of 84 matches were played over three da ...

References

External links

Connacht profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Fionn 1985 births Living people People educated at Newbridge College Connacht Rugby players Leinster Rugby players Blackrock College RFC players Ireland international rugby sevens players