Rory David Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish rugby union player and is currently the captain of Ireland's International team. He plays hooker for Ulster and is registered for Banbridge RFC. With over 100 caps for Ireland since 2005, Best is one of the most capped players in Irish national team history.
Video Rory Best
Early life
Best was raised in Poyntzpass, County Armagh. He was educated at Tandragee Junior High School, Portadown College. He then studied Agriculture at Newcastle University where he played with the Newcastle Falcons academy.
Maps Rory Best
Career
Best returned home to join Belfast Harlequins in 2002 where he captained the team and gained his first Ulster contract in 2004. He made his debut for Ulster as a replacement at home to Munster in the 2005 Celtic League. He replaced his brother (now retired Ireland and Ulster prop Simon) as Ulster captain for the 2007/08 season and continues to hold the position. He is renowned for his abilities as a scrummager. Best missed the entire 2009/10 season due to surgery on a chronic disc problem. Best scored two tries in 2011/12 and 2010/11 for Ulster. He was part of the Ulster side that was defeated by Leinster in The Heineken Cup final in 2012.
Best played his 200th game for Ulster in the Pro14 in 2017, earning the honour against Leinster.
International
Best made his international debut for Ireland as a replacement against the All Blacks at Lansdowne Road in November 2005 and made his first start against the Springboks in 2006. He has been involved with the national team ever since, initially sharing the number 2 shirt with Jerry Flannery. He was a member of the Irish teams that won the 2007 Triple Crown and was in the Irish Squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup as well as the 2009 Six Nations Championship which completed the Grand Slam.
He captained the Ireland team that toured North America in 2009, while many of his Ireland teammates were on the British and Irish Lions team that began their tour of South Africa at the same time. He became the undisputed first-choice Hooker at the 2011 Rugby World Cup after an injury to Jerry Flannery. He was chosen to captain Ireland during the 2012 Six Nations Championship after Paul O'Connell was injured.
Best was added to the British and Irish Lions squad for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia on 26 May after English Hooker Dylan Hartley was removed from the squad after receiving a red card in the Aviva Premiership final for abuse of an official on 25 May 2013.In 2014 Best won his 2nd Six Nations title.
In January 2016, Best was named as the new Ireland captain for the 2016 Six Nations Championship. On November 26, 2016, Best became Ireland's 5th centurion, gaining his 100th cap in a test match vs Australia in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. The previous week, Best captained Ireland to a historic 40-29 win over New Zealand in his 99th appearance, Ireland's first ever win over New Zealand.
After finishing the 2017 Six Nations, Best was selected for the British and Irish Lions for the second time, to New Zealand. Best started in four of the five matches be played on tour, captaining the Lions to a 34-6 win over the Chiefs and a 31-31 draw against the Hurricanes. Best was not subbed off in either of those matches, and received an OBE while he was on tour with the Lions.
Best continued as captain for Ireland for the 2018 Six Nations Championship, leading the team to a historic third Grand Slam and Triple Crown, as well as winning the tournament, by defeating England at Twickenham Stadium on St Patrick's Day.
Honours
Best was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to rugby.
Ulster
- Pro12:
- Winner (1): 2005-06
Ireland
- Six Nations Championship:
- Winner (4): 2009, 2014, 2015, 2018
- Grand Slam:
- Winner (2): 2009, 2018
- Triple Crown:
- Winner (3): 2007, 2009, 2018
Personal life
Best was raised on the family farm near Poyntzpass, County Armagh; his older brother Simon also played for Ulster and Ireland.
Rory was married in Richhill in the summer of 2009 to Jodie Bell, a schoolteacher. They have two boys and one girl.
References
External links
- Ulster profile
- Ireland profile
- Profile on itsrugby.co.uk
- ESPNscrum profile
Source of article : Wikipedia
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