Ultan Dillane

Ultan Dillane (born 9 November 1993) is an Irish rugby union player. He plays for the Irish province of Connacht in the Pro12. Dillane primarily plays as a lock.

Early life

Dillane was born in Paris, France to an Irish mother. His father is from the Ivory Coast. At the age of seven, Dillane moved to Ireland, settling in Tralee in his mother's native county of Kerry. Dillane attended St Mary's Christian Brothers School in Tralee.

Rugby career

Club rugby

Dillane first played rugby for his local club Tralee RFC. Invited to play by a neighbour, but reluctant to take up the sport at first, Dillane and his brother were promised €5 by their mother if they went. While with Tralee, Dillane was involved in the youth set up of his local provincial team, Munster. Dillane left the Munster set up however, and joined the academy of Connacht, another Irish province.

Connacht

Dillane came into the Connacht academy for the 2012–13 season. In the 2014–15 season, while still a third year academy player, Dillane made his Connacht debut. He came on as a replacement in a provincial derby against Connacht's Irish rivals Leinster on 19 December 2014, and followed this up with his first start, which came against Ulster, another Irish province, on 26 December. On 1 January, Dillane was a replacement in another Irish derby, playing against his native province of Munster. Following his performances in these games, Dillane was awarded a senior contract with Connacht, which runs until the summer of 2017.

Ultan

Ultan may refer to:

Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) (Irish: Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns Ravenhill in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.

History

Initially, there were two unions both founded in 1874 – the Irish Football Union had jurisdiction over clubs in Leinster, Munster and parts of Ulster; the Northern Football Union of Ireland controlled the Belfast area. The IRFU was formed in 1879 as an amalgamation of these two organisations and branches of the new IRFU were formed in Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The Connacht Branch was formed in 1900.

The IRFU was a founding member of the International Rugby Football Board, now known as World Rugby, in 1886 with Scotland and Wales. (England refused to join until 1890.)