Jump to content

Donal Lenihan

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tom.Reding (talk | contribs) at 18:21, 23 May 2018 (+{{Authority control}} (2 sources from Wikidata), WP:GenFixes on, using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Donal Lenihan
Personal information
Full nameDonal Lenihan
Born (1959-09-12) 12 September 1959 (age 65)
Cork, Republic of Ireland
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 ½ in)
Weight108 kg (17 st 0 lb 238 lb)[1]
Playing information
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
University College Cork
Cork Constitution
Munster Rugby
Total 0 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1981–1992 Ireland 52 1 4

Donal Gerard Lenihan (born 12 September 1959 in Cork) is a retired Irish rugby union player with 52 international caps.

Biography

Donal was raised in a sporting background. His father, Gerald Lenihan, was an All-Ireland heavyweight boxing champion and Gaelic footballer of distinction, and played in the same team as Jack Lynch. Donal attended primary school he attended Saint Patrick’s Boys National School on Gardiner's Hill and afterwards went to Christian Brothers College, Cork. He captained his school to Munster Junior and Senior Schools titles and was also captained for Irish schools[2]

He was a student at UCC and played for the rugby team while studying there.

Lenihan played his first test match for Ireland on 21 November 1981 versus Australia at the age of 22. Famous for his aerial skills in the line-out, the hard-nosed second row was ever present in the Irish team for over a decade which saw two Triple Crowns and three 5 Nations Championships victories. He is best remembered for his break which set up Mike Kiernan's championship clinching drop-goal against England in 1985.

He played four matches in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup where he was the Irish captain and played three matches in the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Lenihan, a proud Munsterman, captained his country 17 times. He was selected for three Lions Tours (1983, 1986, 1989) and was the popular captain of the unbeaten 1989 midweek side that became known as Donal's Donuts.[3] His last cap came against Wales on 18 January 1992.

Post Playing Career

After retirement from rugby he took over as manager of Ireland in 1998 after the resignation of Pat Whelan.[4] He resigned as manager at the end of the 2000 season[5] to take over management of the British and Irish Lions for their 2001 tour.[6] He appears regularly as a co-commentator on radio and TV for rugby matches and writes for the Irish Examiner. He works as a financial consultant in Cork.

Career statistics

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2014-11-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Scally, John (1996). Giants of Irish Rugby. Mainstream Publishing Company. ISBN 1-85158-834-5.
  3. ^ "History of the Lions New Zealand 1993". BBC News Web Site. 18 May 2005. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  4. ^ "Former captain and ex-Lions player to take over as national rugby manager". Irish Examiner Web site. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Ireland's Lenihan to step down after visit of Wales". Independent News. [dead link]
  6. ^ "Brian O'Brien is the new Irish Manager". RTÉ Web Site.
Preceded by
Pat Whelan
 Irish national rugby manager
1998-2001 		Succeeded by
Brian O'Brien
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donal_Lenihan&oldid=842639485"