Cullen Is Ireland’s 100th Captain
As well as leading Ireland out for the first time on Saturday, Leo Cullen will be creating Irish rugby history as the country’s 100th Test captain.
A trawl through the annals of Irish rugby history show that Blackrock College and Leinster’s Leo Cullen is the 100th player appointed to captain Ireland at Test match level.
Cullen has already had notable success at Murrayfield, the venue for Saturday’s pre-season clash with Scotland. Back in 2009, he led Leinster to their first Heineken Cup title at the Edinburgh ground.
Praising the Newtownmountkennedy man’s leadership qualities, Ireland head coach Declan Kidney said: “Once Leo was in the team he was the natural man to captain it. He was knocking on the door during the last Six Nations.
“I know Leo well and we’re fortunate that captaincy sits easily on his shoulders.
“When there’s so much as stake for the players, you don’t want to be burdening them with it, but I was delighted to be able to hand it to him.”
The player himself, who will be winning his 30th cap, said that it will be a ‘special day’ for him. No stranger to the captain’s role, he has in fact skippered Ireland at Under-19, Under-21 and ‘A’ level previously.
“To be asked by Declan to be captain is a real privilege for me. I think sometimes you appreciate it more when it comes later in your career,” he admitted.
“I’ve been knocking around for quite a while now at this stage and I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, particularly in the international sphere.
“It’s something I really appreciate, playing for Ireland, because there’s been plenty of years where I sat back and watched the team from afar. It’s kind of a strange feeling.
“To get the opportunity to lead the team out is a special day for me.”
Cullen will be following in the footsteps of his Leinster team-mate and Ireland’s long-term captain Brian O’Driscoll, who misses Saturday’s game due to a neck/shoulder injury.
O’Driscoll is Ireland’s longest serving captain. Last March’s Six Nations win over England marked his 75th match as skipper. He is just one win away from leading his country to 50 Test victories.
IrishRugby.ie, with the assistance of statistician Stuart Farmer, has published the full list of Ireland’s Test captains below – from Dublin University’s George Stack, the captain on that fateful day at Kennington Oval in 1875, through to fellow forward Cullen.
IRELAND’S 100 CAPTAINS FOR FULL INTERNATIONAL MATCHES:
| NO | DEBUT | OPPS | CAPTAIN | GAMES | W | D | L | Win% | |
| 1 | 15/02/1875 | England | George Stack | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 2 | 13/12/1875 | England | Richard Bell | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 3 | 05/02/1877 | England | Richard Galbraith | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 4 | 19/02/1877 | Scotland | William Wilson | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 5 | 11/03/1878 | England | Robert Walkington | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 6 | 17/02/1879 | Scotland | William Neville | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 7 | 30/01/1880 | England | Hugh Kelly | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 8 | 05/02/1881 | England | Arthur Forrest | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 9 | 06/02/1882 | England | John Taylor | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 10 | 05/02/1883 | England | George Scriven | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 11 | 04/02/1884 | England | James McDonald | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 12 | 12/04/1884 | Wales | Frank Moore | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 13 | 07/02/1885 | England | William Rutherford | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 14 | 06/02/1886 | England | Meredith Johnston | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 15 | 20/02/1886 | Scotland | J.P. Ross | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 16 | 05/02/1887 | England | Robert Warren | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 22.2% | |
| 17 | 03/03/1888 | Wales | Harry Neill | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 18 | 07/02/1891 | England | Dolway Walkington | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 19 | 07/03/1891 | Wales | Robert Stevenson | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 20 | 06/02/1892 | England | Victor le Fanu | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 21 | 04/02/1893 | England | Sam Lee | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 42.9% | |
| 22 | 03/02/1894 | England | Edmund Forrest | 6 | 4 | – | 2 | 66.7% | |
| 23 | 02/02/1895 | England | John O’Conor | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 24 | 02/03/1895 | Scotland | Charles Rooke | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 25 | 19/02/1898 | Scotland | Glynn Allen | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 26 | 19/03/1898 | Wales | William Gardiner | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 27 | 04/02/1899 | England | Louis Magee | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 40.0% | |
| 28 | 08/02/1902 | England | John Fulton | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 29 | 14/02/1903 | England | Harry Corley | 5 | 1 | – | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 30 | 12/03/1904 | Wales | Ellie Allen | 11 | 5 | – | 6 | 45.5% | |
| 31 | 09/02/1907 | England | Alfred Tedford | 1 | 1 | – | – | 100.0% | |
| 32 | 08/02/1908 | England | Harry Thrift | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 33 | 29/02/1908 | Scotland | James Parke | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 34 | 13/02/1909 | England | Fred Gardiner | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 35 | 13/03/1909 | Wales | George Hamlet | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.0% | |
| 36 | 12/03/1910 | Wales | Tom Smyth | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 37 | 01/01/1912 | France | Dickie Lloyd | 12 | 5 | – | 7 | 41.7% | |
| 38 | 10/02/1912 | England | Alexander Foster | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 39 | 28/02/1920 | Scotland | George Doherty | 5 | 1 | – | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 40 | 13/03/1920 | Wales | Thomas Wallace | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 41 | 11/02/1922 | England | William Collopy | 5 | 1 | – | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 42 | 10/02/1923 | England | John Thompson | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 43 | 26/01/1924 | France | William Crawford | 15 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 66.7% | |
| 44 | 01/11/1924 | New Zealand | George Stephenson | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 53.8% | |
| 45 | 23/02/1929 | Scotland | Eugene Davy | 3 | – | – | 3 | 0.0% | |
| 46 | 01/01/1931 | France | Mark Sugden | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | 50.0% | |
| 47 | 19/12/1931 | South Africa | George Beamish | 5 | 3 | – | 2 | 60.0% | |
| 48 | 10/02/1934 | England | Jack Siggins | 10 | 4 | – | 6 | 40.0% | |
| 49 | 13/02/1937 | England | George Morgan | 8 | 4 | – | 4 | 50.0% | |
| 50 | 12/03/1938 | Wales | Sam Walker | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 51 | 25/01/1947 | France | Con Murphy | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 52 | 22/02/1947 | Scotland | Jack Monteith | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 53 | 06/12/1947 | Australia | Ernest Strathdee | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 54 | 14/02/1948 | England | Karl Mullen | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 66.7% | |
| 55 | 08/12/1951 | South Africa | Des O’Brien | 5 | 2 | – | 3 | 40.0% | |
| 56 | 24/01/1953 | France | Jackie Kyle | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 57 | 13/02/1954 | England | Jim McCarthy | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 58 | 22/01/1955 | France | Robin Thompson | 3 | – | – | 3 | 0.0% | |
| 59 | 28/01/1956 | France | James Ritchie | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 60 | 25/02/1956 | Scotland | Noel Henderson | 11 | 6 | – | 5 | 54.5% | |
| 61 | 14/02/1959 | England | Ronnie Dawson | 11 | 3 | – | 8 | 27.3% | |
| 62 | 13/02/1960 | England | Andy Mulligan | 3 | – | – | 3 | 0.0% | |
| 63 | 10/02/1962 | England | Bill Mulcahy | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 18.2% | |
| 64 | 26/01/1963 | France | Tom Kiernan | 24 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 58.3% | |
| 65 | 07/12/1963 | New Zealand | James Kelly | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 66 | 23/01/1965 | France | Ray McLoughlin | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 67 | 21/01/1967 | Australia | Noel Murphy | 5 | 3 | – | 2 | 60.0% | |
| 68 | 13/02/1971 | England | Mike Gibson | 5 | 1 | – | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 69 | 10/03/1973 | Wales | Willie-John McBride | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 41.7% | |
| 70 | 21/02/1976 | Wales | Tom Grace | 8 | 1 | – | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 71 | 21/01/1978 | Scotland | John Moloney | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 72 | 04/11/1978 | New Zealand | Shay Deering | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 73 | 20/01/1979 | France | Fergus Slattery | 17 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 29.4% | |
| 74 | 23/01/1982 | Wales | Ciaran Fitzgerald | 19 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 47.4% | |
| 75 | 18/02/1984 | England | Willie Duggan | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 76 | 01/11/1986 | Romania | Donal Lenihan | 17 | 8 | – | 9 | 47.1% | |
| 77 | 29/10/1988 | Samoa | Philip Matthews | 13 | 4 | – | 9 | 30.8% | |
| 78 | 18/11/1989 | New Zealand | Willie Anderson | 3 | – | – | 3 | 0.0% | |
| 79 | 02/02/1991 | France | Rob Saunders | 5 | – | 1 | 4 | 0.0% | |
| 80 | 09/10/1991 | Japan | Terry Kingston | 6 | 3 | – | 3 | 50.0% | |
| 81 | 21/03/1992 | France | Phil Danaher | 3 | – | – | 3 | 0.0% | |
| 82 | 06/06/1992 | New Zealand | Michael Bradley | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 33.3% | |
| 83 | 21/01/1995 | England | Brendan Mullin | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 84 | 31/05/1995 | Japan | Nick Popplewell | 2 | 2 | – | – | 100.0% | |
| 85 | 18/11/1995 | Fiji | Jim Staples | 7 | 3 | – | 4 | 42.9% | |
| 86 | 02/03/1996 | Wales | Niall Hogan | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 87 | 23/11/1996 | Australia | Keith Wood | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 41.7% | |
| 88 | 13/06/1998 | South Africa | Paddy Johns | 10 | 4 | – | 6 | 40.0% | |
| 89 | 12/06/1999 | Australia | Dion O’Cuinneagain | 7 | 3 | – | 4 | 42.9% | |
| 90 | 02/06/2001 | Romania | Mick Galwey | 4 | 3 | – | 1 | 75.0% | |
| 91 | 11/11/2001 | Samoa | Anthony Foley | 3 | 3 | – | – | 100.0% | |
| 92 | 23/03/2002 | Italy | David Humphreys | 5 | 4 | – | 1 | 80.0% | |
| 93 | 09/11/2002 | Australia | Brian O’Driscoll | 75 | 49 | 1 | 25 | 65.3% | |
| 94 | 14/06/2003 | Tonga | Reggie Corrigan | 2 | 2 | – | – | 100.0% | |
| 95 | 14/02/2004 | France | Paul O’Connell | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | 50.0% | |
| 96 | 12/11/2005 | New Zealand | Simon Easterby | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 97 | 26/05/2007 | Argentina | Simon Best | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0.0% | |
| 98 | 15/03/2008 | England | Ronan O’Gara | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0.0% | |
| 99 | 23/05/2009 | Canada | Rory Best | 2 | 2 | – | – | 100.0% | |
| 100 | 06/08/2011 | Scotland | Leo Cullen | ||||||
| TOTALS | 602 | 253 | 29 | 320 | 42.0% |