Tadhg Leader (born 1 March 1992) is an Irish-born

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 and

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

. He has also played for American professional rugby union club

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are an American professional rugby union team based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They co ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). Leader was born and raised in Ireland, but after living in the United States for several years, qualified to play for the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

. His primary position is at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

, though he has also played at inside center.

Early life

Born in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, Leader grew up in Castlegar, just outside the city. He is a past pupil of

the Bish St. Joseph's Patrician College, often known as "The Bish", is a secondary school in the West Ireland city of Galway. Founded by the Patrician Brothers, a religious order, it has approximately 800 students on roll and, in recent years, has ha ...

, one of the city's secondary schools, and the Cistercian College in

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 2022 it had a population of 5,542. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Crónán of Roscrea, Saint Crónán of Roscrea, p ...

. Leader is the older brother of current

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 ...

player

Darragh Leader Darragh Leader (born 22 May 1993) is a retired rugby player from Ireland. His primary position is at fullback, though he has also played on the wing. Leader played for Connacht in the Pro14, having come through Connacht's academy. Darragh has a ...

. Greg, the eldest brother, played for the province at underage level. Their parents were also heavily involved in sport, with their mother, Breda, serving as secretary for

Rowing Ireland Rowing Ireland, formerly the Irish Amateur Rowing Union, is the governing body of rowing for Ireland. It is a cross-border organisation administering the sport in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Rowing Ireland is a member of ...

and their father, Noel, having played for and served as president of the Galwegians rugby club, where Leader first played the sport.

Club career

Connacht

Leader graduated secondary school and signed for the Connacht academy in 2011. Later that year, Leader played an integral role in the Connacht under-20 grand slam winning team. Leader was brought into the Connacht senior squad for the 2012–13 season. Leader made multiple appearances for the

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 the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009� ...

. After multiple injury setbacks Leader left Connacht and signed with Italian club Rugby Badia ASD.

Rugby Badia ASD

Leader arrived in Italy to play with Rugby Badia ASD in Italy's Serie A rugby competition. A few months into his time in Italy a shoulder injury forced him to return to Ireland for surgery.

Lindenwood University

In 2015, whilst recovering from a shoulder reconstruction Leader received a rugby scholarship at Lindenwood University in

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making St. Charles the List of cities in ...

to play for the school's college rugby side the

Lindenwood Lions The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the college athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily ...

. During his time at Lindenwood, Leader pursued an undergraduate degree in sports management. Leader was selected to play in the Lindenwood team that represented the United States at the Red Bull World Uni 7's in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in England. However, shortly after arriving, Leader was ruled ineligible to represent the university in intercollegiate matches due to his time spent as a professional player in Ireland and Italy.

St. Louis Royals

Leader linked up with local club the St. Louis Royals in 2016, whilst continuing his studies at Lindenwood. As captain-coach Leader led the Royals to a DIII national championship in 2017. Leader was also named player's MVP of the Royals after the 2017 season.

San Diego Legion

In January 2018, Leader signed a two-year contract with the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion are an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team plays its home games at Torero Stadium. The Legion began play in the league's inaugural 2018 ...

International career

In April 2011, Leader was selected for the Ireland under-19 squad for their game against France. Later that year in December 2011, Leader was selected as part of

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors from 2007 to 2010. He ...

's squad for the Ireland under-20s in preparation for the 2012 under-20 Six Nations tournament. Having lived in the United States since 2015, under the World Rugby three-year residency rule, Leader became eligible in 2018 to play for the United States. Leader was called up to the U.S. squad for the

2019 Americas Rugby Championship The 2019 Americas Rugby Championship is the fourth series of the Americas Rugby Championship, the top level rugby union competition for Americas nations. Participants Table Fixtures The tournament was played in a round-robin format, with ...

Gridiron football

In 2020, Leader attempted to become an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. He joined

The Spring League The Spring League (TSL) was an American football Minor league football (gridiron), developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional football (gridiron), p ...

's Aviators for the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. Following week 6 of the

2021 European League of Football season The 2021 ELF season was the inaugural season of the European League of Football, a newly formed professional American football league based in Europe. It started on June 19, 2021, and ended with the ''ELF Championship Game'' in Düsseldorf's Merk ...

, Leader signed with the

Wrocław Panthers Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. On February 23, 2022, Leader signed with the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

. However, he was released before the start of the regular season on June 5, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leader, Tadhg 1992 births Living people Connacht Rugby players Irish rugby union players San Diego Legion players New England Free Jacks players United States international rugby union players New Orleans Gold players People educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea People educated at St Joseph's Patrician College Sportspeople from Galway (city) The Spring League players Lindenwood Lions athletes Irish players of American football Lindenwood Lions rugby American football placekickers Expatriate players of American football Irish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Panthers Wrocław players Rugby union fly-halves Canadian football placekickers Hamilton Tiger-Cats players