Captains
From George Stack leading Ireland in 1875 to the present day, the role of captain may have evolved over the years but the honour of leading your country is as strong as ever. The list below shows the first game in which the player captained Ireland.
Captain / First Game / Date
George Stack v England, 15/02/1875
Richard Bell v England, 13/12/1875
Richard Galbraith v England, 05/02/1877
William Wilson v Scotland, 19/02/1877
Robert Walkington v England, 11/03/1878
William Neville v Scotland, 17/02/1879
Hugh Kelly v England, 30/01/1880
Arthur Forrest v England, 05/02/1881
John Taylor v England, 06/02/1882
George Scriven v England, 05/02/1883
James McDonald v England, 04/02/1884
Frank Moore v Wales, 12/04/1884
William Rutherford v England, 07/02/1885
Meredith Johnston v England, 06/02/1886
JP Ross v Scotland, 20/02/1886
Robert Warren v England, 05/02/1887
Harry Neill v Wales, 03/03/1888
Dolway Walkington v England, 07/02/1891
Robert Stevenson v Wales, 07/03/1891
Victor Le Fanu v England, 06/02/1892
Sam Lee v England, 04/02/1893
Edmund Forrest v England, 03/02/1894
John O’ Connor v England, 02/02/1895
Charles Rooke v Scotland, 02/03/1895
Glynn Allen v Scotland, 19/02/1898
William Gardiner v Wales, 19/03/1898
Louis Magee v England, 04/02/1899
John Fulton v England, 08/02/1902
Harry Corley v England, 14/02/1903
Ellie Allen v Wales, 12/03/1904
Alfred Tedford v England, 09/02/1907
Harry Thrift v England, 08/02/1908
James Parke v Scotland, 29/02/1908
Fred Gardiner v England, 13/02/1909
George Hamlet v Wales, 13/03/1909
Tom Smyth v Wales, 12/03/1910
Dickie Lloyd v France, 01/01/1912
Alexander Foster v England, 10/02/1912
George Doherty v Scotland, 28/02/1920
Thomas Wallace v Wales, 13/03/1920
William Collopy v England, 11/02/1922
John Thompson v England, 10/02/1923
William Crawford v France, 26/01/1924
George Stephenson v New Zealand, 01/11/1924
Eugene Davy v Scotland, 23/02/1929
Mark Sugden v France, 01/01/1931
George Beamish v South Africa, 19/12/1931
Jack Siggins v England, 10/02/1934
George Morgan v England, 13/02/1937
Sam Walker v Wales, 12/03/1938
Con Murphy v France, 25/01/1947
Jack Monteith v Scotland, 22/02/1947
Ernest Strathdee v Australia, 06/12/1947
Karl Mullen v England, 14/02/1948
Des O’Brien v South Africa, 08/12/1951
Jack Kyle v France, 24/01/1953
Jim McCarthy v England, 13/02/1954
Robin Thompson v France, 22/01/1955
James Ritchie v France, 28/01/1956
Noel Henderson v Scotland, 25/02/1956
Ronnie Dawson v England, 14/02/1959
Andy Mulligan v England, 13/02/1960
Bill Mulcahy v England, 10/02/1962
Tom Kiernan v France, 26/01/1963
James Kelly v New Zealand, 07/12/1963
Ray McLoughlin v France, 23/01/1965
Noel Murphy v Australia, 21/01/1967
Mike Gibson v England, 13/02/1971
Willie John McBride v Wales, 10/03/1973
Tom Grace v Wales, 21/02/1976
John Moloney v Scotland, 21/01/1978
Shay Deering v New Zealand, 04/11/1978
Fergus Slattery v France, 20/01/1979
Ciaran Fitzgerald v Wales, 23/01/1982
Willie Duggan v England, 19/02/1984
Donal Lenihan v Romania, 01/11/1986
Philip Matthews v Western Samoa, 29/10/1988
Willie Anderson v New Zealand, 18/11/1989
Rob Saunders v France, 02/02/1991
Terry Kingston v Japan, 09/10/1991
Philip Danaher v France, 21/03/1992
Michael Bradley v New Zealand, 06/06/1992
Brendan Mullin v England, 21/01/1995
Nick Popplewell v Japan, 31/05/1995
Jim Staples v Fiji, 18/11/1995
Niall Hogan v Wales, 02/03/1996
Keith Wood v Australia, 23/11/1996
Paddy Johns v South Africa, 13/06/1998
Dion O’Cuinneagain v Australia, 12/06/1999
Mick Galwey v Romania, 02/06/2001
Anthony Foley v Western Samoa, 11/11/2001
David Humphreys v Italy, 23/03/2002
Brian O’Driscoll v Australia, 09/11/2002
Reggie Corrigan v Tonga, 14/06/2003
Paul O’Connell v France, 14/02/2004
Simon Easterby v New Zealand, 12/11/2005
Simon Best v Argentina, 26/05/2007
Ronan O’Gara v England, 15/03/2008
Rory Best v Canada, 23/05/2009
Leo Cullen v Scotland, 06/08/2011
Jamie Heaslip v South Africa, 10/11/2012
Peter O’Mahony v USA, 08/06/2013
Eoin Reddan v Georgia, 16/11/2014
Sean O’Brien v Scotland, 15/08/2015
Rhys Ruddock v USA, 10/06/2017
Jonathan Sexton v Russia, 3/10/2019
James Ryan v England, 21/11/2020
Iain Henderson v France, Guinness Six Nations, 14/2/2021
Tadhg Furlong v Fiji, Bank of Ireland Nations Series, 12/11/2022
Caelan Doris v Italy, Guinness Men’s Six Nations, 11/02/2024
The First Ireland Women’s Rugby Squad From 1993 – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Gary Carr
The Ireland Women’s team played their first capped international on February 14th 1993.
| Captain | Opposition | Date |
| Jill Henderson | Scotland | 14/02/1993 |
| Cath Mullaly | Scotland | 13/02/1994 |
| Kathryn Hennessy | France | 15/04/1994 |
| Annie Parsons | Scotland | 20/04/1994 |
| Therese Kennedy | Japan | 23/04/1994 |
| Aoife Rodgers | Â Scotland | 21/01/1996 |
| Carole Ann Byrne | Wales | 26/01/1997 |
| Suzanne Fleming | Kazkahstan | 10/02/200 |
| Fiona Steed | Spain | 09/02/2001 |
| Sarah Jane Belton | Japan | 14/11/2004 |
| Fiona Coghlan | Spain | 17/05/2008 |
| Germaine Healy | England | 21/05/2008 |
| Joy Neville | France | 06/02/2009 |
| Lynne Cantwell | Kazakhstan | 09/08/2014 |
| Niamh Briggs | Italy | 06/02/2015 |
| Paula Fitzpatrick | England | 13/11/2016 |
| Claire Molloy | Australia | 09/08/2017 |
| Ciara Griffin | France | 03/02/2018 |
| Sene Naoupu | England | 24/11/2018 |
| Nichola Fryday | Wales | 26/03/2022 |
| Edel McMahon* | Kazakhstan | 13/10/2023 |
| Sam Monaghan* | Kazakhstan | 13/10/2023 |
| Enya Breen | Canada | 05/10/2024 |
*Edel McMahon and Sam Monaghan were named co-captains.
