Niyi Adeolokun (born 3 November 1990) 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. He primarily plays as a winger. Currently unattached he most recently played for

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

and previously for

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

. Adeolokun joined Connacht in 2014 from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. During his time with Dublin University, Adeolokun also played

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

for the club.

Early life

Born in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, Adeolokun came to

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 ...

with his family in 2001 aged 11. He played a wide array of sports in his youth, playing

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 ...

with Templeogue Synge Street and also played

soccer 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 ...

for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

side Shelbourne's under-20 team. Adeolokun first played

as a student at De La Salle College in Churchtown.

Club career

Youth and amateur level

Adeolokun was tied with

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 ...

as a teenager, but after being dropped from their under-19 development squad, Adeolokun played for De La Salle senior school's cup team. In 2009, he was invited All-Ireland League side

Dublin University The University of Dublin (), corporately named as The Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a research university located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dublin, whi ...

by Director of Rugby, Tony Smeeth. Adeolokun played for the team for four seasons. During his time with the squad also played for the Dublin University Sevens team that won back-to-back All-Ireland Championships in 2011 and 2012.

Connacht

In June 2014, it was announced that Adeolokun had signed for Irish provincial team,

on a one-year deal. Connacht's academy coach

Nigel Carolan Nigel Carolan (born 27 December 1974) is a rugby union coach from Ireland. He is currently the Assistant coach to Scottish United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors. He was previously a Backs coach at Connacht. Before becoming a coach Caro ...

had recommended him to the province, with Adeolokun having had a trial with the second tier side

Connacht Eagles Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which ...

, in April 2014. Adeolokun made his debut for Connacht on 6 September 2014, starting against Newport Gwent Dragons on the opening weekend of the

2014–15 Pro12 The 2014–15 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the fifth with its current four-country format. It was ...

, providing an assist to teammate Eoin McKeon for Connacht's first try of the new season. He scored his first try for the province against

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

in the 2014–15 Rugby Challenge Cup. Adeolokun played a total of nine games in the league and four in the Challenge Cup in his first season, scoring a try in each. In November 2014, it was announced that Adeolokun had signed a new contract with Connacht to keep him with the team until the end of 2016–17 season. On 28 May 2016, Connacht won their first ever major trophy, the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. i ...

after a 20-10 win against

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, Adeolokun scored the second try of the match.

Bristol Bears

In August 2020 it was confirmed Adeolokun had joined Premiership Rugby side Bristol Bears on a short-term contract for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. He signed a one-year extension ahead of the 2020–21 season.

International career

In November 2016 Adeolokun received his first call-up to the senior Ireland team. He made his debut for Ireland on 12 November 2016, coming as a 67th minute replacement for Craig Gilroy against .

References

External links

Ultimate Rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeolokun, Niyi 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Ibadan Nigerian emigrants to Ireland Irish people of Nigerian descent Nigerian rugby union players Dublin University Football Club players Connacht Rugby players Bristol Bears players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union wings Templeogue Synge Street Gaelic footballers Black Irish sportspeople