Darragh Leader

Darragh Leader

Leader during the warm-up for a 2013–14 Heineken Cup game against Toulouse
Date of birth	(1993-05-22) 22 May 1993
Place of birth	Galway, Ireland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	96 kilograms (15 st 2 lb)[1]
School	St. Joseph's Patrician College
University	NUI Galway
Rugby union career
Current status
Position(s)	Fullback
Current team	Connacht
Playing career
Position	Fullback, Wing
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
	Galwegians
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2013–	Connacht	50	(49)
correct as of 23 July 2016.

Darragh Leader (born 22 May 1993, in Galway) is a rugby union player from Ireland. His primary position is at fullback, though he has also played on the wing. Leader plays for Connacht in the Pro 12, having come through Connacht's academy.

Early Life

Born in Galway, Leader first played rugby for Galwegians. He is a graduate of the Bish, one of the city's secondary schools. He is a student of the local third level school NUI Galway. Leader's older brother Tadhg is also a rugby player and was a member of the Connacht academy. Leader signed to the Connacht academy ahead of the 2012–13 season.^[2]

Career

Connacht

While still a member of the province's academy, Leader made his debut for the senior side in the 2012–13 Pro12 against the previous season's champions Ospreys on 27 October 2012.^[3] Before becoming a regular for the senior side, Leader mostly played for the second tier development side, the Connacht Eagles. This included a game in the semi-professional British and Irish Cup away against Rotherham Titans in 2013, where he kicked a last minute penalty from 60 metres to win the game 27-25.^[4]

Leader made his first 2013–14 Pro12 appearance on 2 November 2013 against the Glasgow Warriors, which was his first game for the senior team in over a year, as well as his first game at the Sportsground. He started the match at outside centre, and played for the full 80 minutes.^[5] Leader made his first European appearance on 14 December 2013 at home to Toulouse in the 2013–14 Heineken Cup, coming on as a replacement. His first start in the competition came against Zebre on 11 January 2014 in a 20-3 win.^[6] Leader finished the season with 13 appearances in the league, seven of these coming as starts, and scored two tries. His first ever try for the province came in a derby with Ulster.^[7]

In April 2014, it was announced that Leader had signed a contract with Connacht. The one-year deal represents his first official contract as part of the senior team, and runs to the end of the 2014–15 season.^[8]

International

Internationally, Leader has represented Ireland at under-age level. He was a part of the Ireland Under-20 squad that went to the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship,^[9] where Ireland finished as runners up in their pool to New Zealand. Following the play-off rounds, Ireland finished the tournament in eighth place overall.

In 2014, Leader was one of five uncapped players named in Joe Schmidt's 37-man Ireland squad for the November internationals. However, Leader was the only one of these players to both remain fit and not make their senior debut in the series.^[10]

References