Tony Buckley
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| Date of birth | 8 October 1980 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Cork, Munster, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Weight | 135 kg (21 st 4 lb)[1] | ||
| School | Newmarket, County Cork, | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Prop | ||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2005–2011 | Shannon RFC | ||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2004–2005 2005–2011 2011-present |
Connacht Munster Sale |
? 96 15 |
? (40) (5) |
| correct as of 04 Mar 2012. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2007–present 2009-present |
Ireland Ireland A |
25 6 |
(10) (5) |
| correct as of 26 Sep 2011. | |||
Tony "Mushy" Buckley (born 8 October 1980[2]) is an Irish rugby union player from Newmarket, County Cork, who plays tighthead prop for Sale in the Aviva Premiership and for Ireland. He is currently one of the heaviest men playing professional rugby, weighing in at 21 st 5 lbs or 135 kilograms. He wears size 16 boots which must be custom made for him in Germany.[3] He joined Sale Sharks on a 3 year deal from the 2011/12 season.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Buckley has a background in Gaelic games.[5] He first started playing rugby for Kanturk R.F.C in Co Cork. Educated in Newbridge college, Buckley initially played rugby with the school team as a Second Row. He was capped for Leinster Schools before playing for Shannon RFC [6]
[edit] Club/Provincial
Buckley joined Munster from Connacht in 2005 but his first two years were interrupted with injury. Following initial reports, it was thought that he would move to Bath on a one year contract at the end of the 2007 season.[7] However, it was later announced that he would remain at Munster until 2009, after agreeing to a two-year contract extension.[8] The 2007–08 season provided Buckley with increased game time, starting four of the first six matches in the Celtic League, followed by making his Heineken Cup debut against the London Wasps. It was during this match that Buckley came on for the injured John Hayes and within minutes had put Simon Shaw to ground with a hand-off on his own line.[9] After another disappointing season in which he lost his place in the Irish squad to Mike Ross and Munster failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup Quarter finals [10] for the first time in over a decade, Tony decided to join Sale Sharks for the 2011/12 season.
[edit] International career
In April 2007, Buckley was named in the Irish squad for a tour of Argentina. He was listed among the replacements in the matchday XXII for the first test in Santa Fé on the 26th of May, during which he gained his first of two caps on the tour. Later that year he was added to the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad as an injury replacement for Simon Best, but did not feature during the tournament following Ireland's exit at the group stages. Buckley's competitive debut came in the 2008 Six Nations Championship, when he was introduced for last 10 minutes of Ireland's opening fixture against Italy on 2 February 2008. He scored his first international try a year later against Canada on the 24th of May 2009, during the summer tour of North America. He also scored again for Ireland A against Georgia in the Churchill Cup, on the 14th of June 2009. Buckley was seen as the long term successor to John Hayes for club and country. Mike Ross was given the chance to start for Ireland in the 2011 Six Nations and Tony was left out of the squad. He instead played for Ireland Wolfhounds. He was selected in Ireland's 43-man training squad for the 2011 World Cup, and won a place in the final 30-man squad to go to New Zealand.[11] On the 25th September 2011, Tony scored his first World Cup try against Russia.
[edit] References
- ^ "Aviva Premiership Rugby - Sale Sharks - Tony Buckley profile". web page. Premier Rugby. http://www.premiershiprugby.com/squads.php?player=5049&includeref=dynamic. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "MunsterRugby.ie: Player Profiles". Archived from the original on February 11, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070211024333/http://www.munsterrugby.ie/97_91.php. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
- ^ Souster, Mark (1 February 2008). "Times Online: Tony Buckley promises to carry full load as Ireland look for that little extra". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article3285749.ece. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ "Tony Buckley to join Sale Sharks". RTÉ News. 16 February 2011. http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2011/0216/buckleyt_munster_sale.html.
- ^ Souster, Mark (1 February 2008). "Tony Buckley promises to carry full load as Ireland look for that little extra". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article3285749.ece.
- ^ http://www.munsterrugby.ie/19_7225.php
- ^ "MunsterRugby.ie: Buckley Heads For Bath". http://www.munsterrugby.ie/19_3374.php. Retrieved 10 April 2007.[dead link]
- ^ "MunsterRugby.ie: Buckley Remains With Munster". Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070523093542/http://www.munsterrugby.ie/19_3377.php. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
- ^ "YouTube.com: Mushy's Hand off on Shaw". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkWyikgqt74. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ "Toulon 32-16 Munster". RTÉ News. 16 January 2011. http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2011/0116/toulon_munster.html.
- ^ "Buckley picked to start for Wolfhounds". RTÉ News. 26 January 2011. http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/sixnations/2011/0126/irelanda.html.
[edit] External links
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