Roger Wilson (born 21 September 1981) is an Irish former

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, who played at number eight for

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 ...

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

and

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 ...

. Since retiring in 2017, he has worked in the United States, coaching American football players in rugby tackling techniques.

Career

Club

Despite a one-time interest in a football career, Wilson played school rugby at RBAI and was a member of the 1998 and 2000 schools cup winning teams. After being spotted during his time at Trinity College, following a third division game, Wilson signed his first professional contract with Ulster. He held down a regular starting spot in the Ulster XV after his debut in September 2003 against the Ospreys, aged 21, and claimed the Ulster Player of the Year Award for the 2003–04 and 2006-07 seasons. Wilson played every game for Ulster in the 2006–07 season and accumulated the most minutes on the pitch (1,591 minutes and 26 caps). On 25 January 2008,

announced that he had signed to the club for the 2008–09 season. He became a regular starter and earned over 100 caps for the Saints, helping them win 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 Twick ...

and the

2009–10 LV Cup The 2009–10 LV Cup (styled as the LV= Cup) was the 39th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the fifth to follow the Anglo-Welsh format. Northampton Saints were crowned champions after beating Gloucester in the final at ...

, and reach the final of the

2010–11 Heineken Cup The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 w ...

."RUGBY: Roger Wilson has no regrets"
''News Letter'', 4 May 2017 On 18 January 2012,

confirmed that Wilson was to return to the province for the start of next season. He joined Ulster on a three-year deal. He retired at the end of 2016-17 season, having made more than 200 appearances for Ulster.

Representative

Wilson won his only

cap in June 2005 during the tour to Japan. He was part of the Ireland A squad that participated in the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

in the USA and Canada in June 2006. He was again selected for the Ireland A

Tour in June 2007. He was called up to the senior Ireland squad for the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested by E ...

. Wilson has commented that he has been frustrated at not being able to play more for Ireland, however he is happy that he has been able to sustain a long career at the highest level of professional rugby. In May 2014 he was called up to play for the Barbarians against an England XV and in the same month he was Ireland's only representative in a World XV which played in an exhibition game against South Africa.

Coaching

After retiring, Wilson became head coach of

Instonians Instonians is a sports club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that incorporates rugby union, men's and ladies' hockey and cricket sections. There is also a golf society that plays under the Instonians name. Instonians Rugby Football, Cricket ...

rugby club in Belfast in June 2017.Tacklesmart - Coach's Bio
/ref> He later moved to Dallas, Texas, initially working as a strength and conditioning coach at the Michael Johnson Performance Centre, before setting up Tacklesmart, a coaching company teaching rugby tackling techniques to American football players.

Honours

Ulster Rugby * Celtic Cup: Winners 2003 *

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

: Winners 2006 Northampton Saints *

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

: Winners 2009 * LV Cup: Winners 2010 *

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 ...

: Runners-Up 2011

Personal life

Wilson's grandfather,

Harry McKibbin Henry Roger McKibbin CBE (13 July 1915 – 3 September 2001) was an Ireland rugby union international from Northern Ireland who became a prominent rugby administrator. Biography McKibbin, born in Belfast, was an elder brother of Ireland forwar ...

and his two uncles, Harry Jnr and Alistair, have also represented Ireland at rugby union. Wilson married his Brazilian girlfriend Nathalia Melo in June 2015.

References

External links

RogerWilson.comUlster profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Roger 1981 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Belfast Harlequins rugby union players Dublin University Football Club players Northampton Saints players Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Instonians rugby union players Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Belfast