Leah Lyons (born 27 November 1994) is an Irish rugby player from Cork. She plays prop for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

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 ...

and the

Ireland women's national rugby union team The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA ...

. She has represented Ireland since 2016.

Club career

Lyons' father Michael founded the Fermoy Lionesses and gave herself and her sister Adena scrum caps and a ball when they were just six but she started out playing in all-boys teams and didn't get to play on an all-girls' team until U13 level. She was a ball-girl in Thomond Park when Ireland played England there in the 2007 Women's Six Nations. She moved to

Highfield RFC Highfield Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cork, Ireland, playing in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club was founded in 1930 and was elevated to senior status in the province of Munster Munster ( or ) is t ...

to play senior club rugby in 2013 and this resulted in her selection for her provincial side

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

since 2013. She worked full-time as a coach for Munster from 2017 to 2018. That contract ended in the summer of 2018 so, in a bid to get more experience as a player, she sent out emails to several

Premier 15s Premiership Women's Rugby – officially known as Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby or The Allianz PWR – is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the highest level of the English rugby union system, and is run ...

clubs, the top flight of English club rugby. Harlequins were first to get in touch and three days later she packed her car and headed to join the Surrey club. In 2019 she won a Premier 15s runner-up medal with Harlequins. She signed for Sale Sharks prior to the 2021 Premier 15s season.

International career

Lyons was first selected to join the

in November 2016. She made her Ireland debut in a November 2016 Autumn International versus England, as a replacement for Cliodhna Moloney in the unfamiliar position of hooker. She made her Six Nations debut for the

in 2017 and was Ireland's top try scorer in the 2017 Women's Six Nations, dotting down against Italy, France and England. She was selected in the Ireland squad 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 Du ...

in Dublin and a nominee for Ireland's 2017 Player of the Year. She played all five of Ireland's games in the 2018 Women's Six Nations and scored one try. She played in three of Ireland's games in the 2019 Women's Six Nations and scored one try. Her three appearances (against Scotland, England and Italy) in the 2020 Women's Six Nations were as a replacement. In the

2021 Women's Six Nations The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition featuring England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The format for the 2021 tournament w ...

she was a replacement in Ireland's third-place playoff victory over Italy.

Personal life

Lyons has a twin brother and comes from Ballyhooly, the same village as Mike Ross. She studied culinary arts in

Cork Institute of Technology Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Cork (city), Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, ...

but did not complete her degree due to a rugby injury. During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 she was furloughed from her job as a coach with Surrey University and, as a result, took up a job with

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

in Guildford. In February 2018, after her parents overheard comments about her when she had just scored a try for Ireland against Wales, Lyons spoke out publicly about the need for inclusion and body positivity in sport. In May 2019 she was part of

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

's 'Try and Stop Us' campaign, revealing how rugby had helped her overcome bullying and become a role model for young rugby players.

Honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Leah Living people 1994 births Irish female rugby union players Rugby union players from County Cork Rugby union props Ireland women's international rugby union players Irish expatriate rugby union players in England Harlequins Women rugby players Sale Sharks Women players Irish twins 21st-century Irish sportswomen