Ciarán Frawley

Ciarán Frawley (born 4 December 1997) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Leinster. Born in Australia, he represents Ireland at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

Ciarán Frawley
Date of birth (1997-12-04) 4 December 1997
Place of birthSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight91 kg (201 lb; 14 st 5 lb)
SchoolSkerries Community College
UniversityUniversity College Dublin
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre, Fly-half, Fullback
Current team Leinster
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–2016 Skerries 8 (42)
2016– UCD 15 (82)
Correct as of 8 January 2023
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018– Leinster 60 (188)
Correct as of 8 January 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2017 Ireland U20 10 (8)
2022 Ireland Wolfhounds 1 (7)
2023 Ireland 1 (2)
Correct as of 5 August 2023

Early life

Born in Sydney, Australia, to Irish emigrant parents, Frawley returned to Ireland aged 3.[1] Growing up in Skerries in North County Dublin, but with strong family connections to Kilmaley, County Clare, Frawley played for his local Skerries RFC side and at Schools level with Skerries Community College.[2][3]

At club level, Frawley led Skerries to an All-Ireland Under-17 club title in 2014.[4]

Frawley broke into the Skerries RFC AIL team in late 2015, debuting on his eighteenth birthday before moving to UCD in 2016 when beginning his studies there.[5]

Club career

Leinster

Having come up through the province's Youths system, via the 'Clubs' section, Frawley joined the Leinster Rugby academy ahead of the 2017-18 season. Unusually, he also made his senior debut during his first year in the academy, coming on as a first-half substitute against the Scarlets in February 2018. Frawley scored a fine touchline conversion with his first kick and later added a penalty.[6] He made two more appearances during the 2017-18 season, including a man-of-the-match performance against the Southern Kings which yielded 14 points from the boot and a first senior try.[7]

In addition to his first team endeavours, Frawley started at out-half as Leinster 'A' won the inaugural Celtic Cup in October 2018, beating the Scarlets Premiership Select 15-8 in a tight final away from home in Llanelli - completing seven victories out of seven in the competition.[8]

Frawley made 11 appearances during the 2018-19 Pro14 season, scoring 58 points. This tally included a crucial try in a drawn game with Benetton on 6 April 2018.[9]

Frawley made his European Champions Cup debut on 14 December 2019, coming off the bench and scoring two conversions in a 50-21 win over the Northampton Saints.[10] Making 12 appearances across all competitions in the 2019-2020 season, Frawley scored one try in a bonus-point win over Connacht in the Pro 14 on 4 January 2020.[11]

Increasingly being used as an inside centre, Frawley made nine appearances in the 2020-21 season. His sole try came away to Montpellier in the European Rugby Champions Cup on 12 December 2020.[12]

Attracting increasing plaudits and attention, Frawley was named man-of-the-match in a United Rugby Championship game versus Scarlets on 16 October 2021.[13] He would score his first try of the season on 22 January 2022, coming off the bench to dot down versus Bath at The Rec.[14] A facial injury requiring surgery suffered against Edinburgh forced Frawley out of a number of matches but he returned to score a try and pick up the man-of-the-match reward versus Connacht on 26 March 2022.[15] In June 2022 he was named Leinster's 2021–22 Supporter's Player of the Year.[16]

International career

Ireland

Having previously represented his country at under-18 'club' and under-19 level, Frawley was selected for the Ireland U-20s ahead of the 2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. He featured in all five games as Ireland finished fourth. Frawley was also part of the Irish team which finished ninth in the 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship, playing all five games and scoring a try versus Samoa.[17]

Frawley received his first Ireland call-up for the 2021 Autumn Internationals but did not make an appearance.[18] He was included in the Ireland squad for the July 2022 tour of New Zealand.[19] and started at fly-half in the first game against the New Zealand Maori.

References
  1. "Senior Players".
  2. "Frawley starting to take off as Blues are grounded". Herald.ie. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  3. "Leinster's Ciarán Frawley on a road less travelled to reach his destination". independent.
  4. "Skerries defeat Galwegians 31-12 in Under 17's AIL..." Leinster Rugby. 11 April 2014.
  5. "Ciaran Frawley – Ireland U-20's - Skerries RFC". Skerriesrfc.ie. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  6. "Lowe brace inspires Leinster to victory over Scarlets". 17 February 2018 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Scully, Michael (23 April 2018). "Leinster coach Fogarty: 'Ultimately the player makes the decision'". Irishmirror.ie. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  8. Farrell, Sinead. "Champions! Kelleher on the double as Leinster A overcome Scarlets to secure inaugural Celtic Cup". The42.ie. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  9. RDS, Johnny Watterson at the. "Benetton fashion late draw with Leinster thanks to Tavuyara try". The Irish Times.
  10. Rees, Paul (14 December 2019). "Garry Ringrose scores hat-trick as Leinster overwhelm Saints again" – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. "Leinster-vs-Connacht - United Rugby Championship".
  12. "Leinster begin European campaign with five-star win in Montpellier".
  13. Glennon, Michael (18 October 2021). "Frawley 'knocking on Ireland door'". RTÉ.ie.
  14. "O'Brien scores four as Leinster blitz Bath".
  15. "Ruthless Leinster run in six second half tries to punish 14-man Connacht".
  16. "2022 BANK OF IRELAND LEINSTER RUGBY AWARDS BALL". Leinster rugby. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  17. Team, The42. "Ireland U20s make light work of Samoa to quash relegation fears". The42.
  18. "Frawley named in Irish squad".
  19. "Andy Farrell includes 5 uncapped players in 40-man Ireland squad to tour New Zealand". The 42. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
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