Mick Kearney (born 29 March 1991) 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, currently playing for Irish side

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 ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. His primary position is

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

, though he has also played as a flanker.

Career

Club

Kearney, who is originally from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and attended

Mount Temple Comprehensive School Mount Temple Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under the patronage of the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and has, as a primary objective, the provision of state-funded second ...

, joined Connacht in 2011. He had previously played for amateur club Clontarf and been part of the

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

youth set-up, from schools to under-19's and Leinster colleges. He made his debut in a home match against Welsh side the Ospreys on 26 November that year, coming off the bench in a 17–6 loss. Kearney made his first senior start for Connacht against his native province Leinster on 1 January 2012, playing at blindside flanker. At the end of his first season with Connacht, Kearney had made 11 Pro12 appearances for the team, 5 of them starts. He had also played 3 times in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec 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 ...

, coming on as a replacement in both matches against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and the away match with

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Kearney played more often for Connacht in his second season, making 8 starts and 7 replacement appearances in the

2012–13 Pro12 The 2012–13 Pro12 League (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the third with its current 12-team format, and the second with ...

. He also played for the province in 4 of their 6 pool games in the

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17� ...

, starting all but one of his games. He scored his first try for the team in a Pro12 match away to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 12 April 2013, which Connacht won 32–24. In April 2015 it was announced that Kearney would return to his native province of

for the 2015–16 season. Kearney was released by Leinster at the end of the 2018–19 season, and joined Italian side

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 by t ...

ahead of the 2019–20 season, where former Leinster teammate Ian Nagle had also moved to. On 30 May 2021 he left Zebre, and on 26 August he joined Ulster on a short-term contract. He left Ulster at the end of the 2021–22 season, announcing his retirement in May 2022.

International

Kearney has represented Ireland at under-age levels including playing for the Irish under-20 team. He was part of the squad that went to the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby' ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He started each of the group matches against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the second row, as well as the first game in the 5–8th place play-offs against South Africa. He was left as a replacement for the final game against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, however.

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
*
Connacht ProfileLeinster Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Mick 1991 births Living people People educated at Mount Temple Comprehensive School Rugby union players from County Dublin Irish rugby union players Connacht Rugby players Leinster Rugby players Zebre Parma players Ulster Rugby players Rugby union locks Irish expatriate rugby union players in Italy