Lauren Delany

Lauren Delany
Date of birth (1989-07-17) 17 July 1989 (age 35)
Place of birthDublin, Ireland
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing/Full-back
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014-2015 Bletchley Ladies RFC ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015-2020
2020-		 Waterloo Ladies
Sale Sharks		 ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018–present Ireland 22 (10)
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
? Ireland 7s ?

Lauren Delany (born 17 June 1989) is an Irish rugby player from Shankill, Dublin. She plays for Sale Sharks and the Ireland women's national rugby union team. She works as a sports nutritionist.

Club career

Delany represented Ireland at basketball and only took up rugby at age 25, when she moved to England to do a master's degree. Her first club was Bletchley Ladies, then she moved to Waterloo Ladies who play in England's Premier 15s.[1]

In August 2020 she joined Sale Sharks.[2]

International career

Delany was recruited by the Irish Rugby Football Union IQrugby (Irish-qualified) system which identifies talent outside of Ireland. Ireland manager Adam Griggs saw her first playing in an IQrugby trial in England in 2018.[3]

In 2018 she made her debut for the Ireland women's national rugby union team in an Autumn international v USA rugby. She made her Women's Six Nations debut, at full-back, against England in 2019 and was Ireland's starting full-back for every game of the 2019 Women's Six Nations.[4]

Moved to the wing in 2020, she scored her first Six Nations try, against Wales, in the 2020 Women's Six Nations.

She played on the right wing for Ireland in the 2021 Women's Six Nations.[5]

Personal life

Delany went to school in Colaiste Iosagain in Dublin, an all-girls school where the main sports were basketball and ladies gaelic football. She competed in the Basketball Ireland Women's Superleague with Meteors Basketball Club and played for Ireland up to U23 level, including the European U16 Championships (2005).[6]

She has a degree in human nutrition and dietetics from Trinity College Dublin, a post-grad from Dublin Institute of Technology, a Masters in Science (Sport and Exercise Nutrition) from Loughborough University in England and is studying for a PhD at Leeds Beckett University.[7]

She lives in Manchester. Her work, with the English Institute of Sport, has seen her advising several of British sport's high performance units and Olympic sports (cycling, badminton, archery, taewondo and swimming) and she also advises the Leeds Rhinos on performance nutrition.[8]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "From Superleague basketball to the Six Nations - Dubliner Delany on her fast-track rugby career". independent. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Sale Sharks sign Irish International Lauren Delany". Sale Sharks. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  3. ^ Neville, Conor (13 April 2021). "Late starter Delany takes winding road to national team". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ "Women's Six Nations Preview: Ireland Women v England Women". Irish Rugby. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Delany Eager To 'Build On Last Week's Good Foundations'". Irish Rugby. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  6. ^ Cummiskey, Gavin. "Basketball's loss is rugby's gain as Lauren Delany makes up for lost time". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Lauren Delany takes the scenic route to top of Irish rugby and Six Nations". Times Series. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  8. ^ Daly, Phil (21 January 2021). "Lauren Delany". Leeds Rhinos. Retrieved 18 May 2021.