John Muldoon (rugby player born 1982)

John Muldoon

Muldoon in the warm up for Connacht's 2011–12 Heineken Cup match with Toulouse
Full name	John Muldoon
Date of birth	(1982-11-30) 30 November 1982
Place of birth	Portumna, Ireland
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Weight	109 kilograms (17 st 2 lb)
University	Setanta College
Rugby union career
Current status
Position(s)	Back Row
current team	Connacht
Playing career
Position	Flanker, Number 8
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
	Galwegians
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2004–	Connacht	223	(85)
correct as of 11 May 2014.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2006– 2009–	Wolfhounds Ireland	11 3	(10) (0)
correct as of 9 Feb 2015.

John Muldoon (born 30 November 1982) is a rugby union player from Ireland. He plays for the Irish province of Connacht in the Pro12. Muldoon plays in the back row, predominantly as a flanker but can also play at number 8.

Before becoming a professional rugby player, Muldoon played hurling with Portumna GAA. He won an inter-county All-Ireland minor medal in 2000 playing for Galway against Cork. He is a distant relative of former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon.^[1]

Career

Connacht

Early years (2003–2008)

Muldoon first played for Connacht in the 2003–04 Celtic League season.^[2] He made his debut as a replacement in a game against Scottish side Border Reivers.^[3] He played in a total of four league games that season, with two of those appearances being starts.

The following season saw Muldoon became a regular figure in the Connacht team. He played 17 times for the side in the 2004–05 Celtic League, starting 11 of these games.^[2] He scored his first Connacht try on 4 September 2004 in their league match against Glasgow.^[4] During the course of the league season, he also received two yellow cards. Muldoon made his European rugby debut that season in the 2004–05 European Challenge Cup. His first game in the competition was against French side Narbonne. He played in every one of the province's games in the competition with the exception of the second game with Sale Sharks. Muldoon started each of these games and scored tries against Montpellier and Grenoble as Connacht reached the semi-finals.^[5]

In the following seasons, Muldoon continued to be a key member of the Connacht side. He played in 19 games for the province in the 2005–06 Celtic League and starting in all 7 of the team's games in the 2005–06 Challenge Cup, while in the following season he started 19 games in the league and four of the side's 6 games in the Challenge Cup. In each of the two seasons, Muldoon was shown a yellow card in two league games. In the 2007–08 season, Muldoon played 17 games in the Celtic League, 15 of them starts and started four games in that season's Challenge Cup.^[2][5]

Captaincy (2008–2011)

Muldoon was named as the new captain of Connacht by coach Michael Bradley ahead of the 2008–09 season, replacing Andrew Farley in the role.^[6] He led the team out in a competitive game for the first time against the Ospreys on 5 September 2008, but was yellow carded in the match, as the team lost by 3-16.^[7] He played in 15 more league games that year, and was sin binned in two more games as Connacht finished bottom of the Celtic League again.^[2] Muldoon's first European game as captain came against French side Dax in the 2008–09 European Challenge Cup, and he scored a try as Connacht won by 30 points to 12 away from home. In Muldoon's first season as captain, the team made it past the group stages, but were beaten in the quarter-finals by Northampton Saints.^[5]

In the 2009–10 Celtic League, Muldoon played 14 games for Connacht, starting in each of them as the province finished bottom of the table for a third successive year.^[2] Connacht performed far better in Europe however, and topped their pool comfortably, winning all six games with two try bonus points. The team proceeded to the quarter-finals as the competition's top seeds. In the quarters, they faced the French Top 14 side Bourjoin, beating them 23-20 with a late Miah Nikora drop goal. Connacht advanced to the semi-finals where, on 30 April 2010, they faced a Toulon team featuring the English fly-half Jonny Wilkinson. Toulon won 19-12 in Galway, with Wilkinson kicking 14 of the French club's points. Muldoon played in and started all but one of the team's games, not playing in the home match with Olympus Madrid. He scored three tries in the competition, crossing the line against Madrid, Bourjoin and Worcester Warriors.^[5]

In the 2010–11 season, Muldoon's former Connacht teammate Eric Elwood took over the side. In the Challenge Cup, the team failed to qualify from their group, finishing second behind eventual champions Harlequins. Muldoon played in four of the team's six European matches.^[5] Domestically, Connacht were able to improve their league standing coming ninth from 12 teams, ahead of Glasgow Warriors and two new Italian teams. However Muldoon missed much of the season through injury,^[8] playing in only 8 games in the 2010–11 Celtic League.^[2]

Heineken Cup (2011–2014)

For the 2011–12 season, Connacht qualified for the Heineken Cup, Europe's premier club rugby competition, for the first ever time, and Muldoon's Galwegians club mate and fellow Ireland cap-holder, Gavin Duffy, was made team captain.^[9] The start of the season also saw the Celtic League renamed, becoming the Pro 12. In the first Pro 12 season, Muldoon played in every one of Connacht's 22 games, starting all but two of them.^[2] Muldoon played his first ever Heineken Cup game on 11 November 2011, against Harlequins in the Stoop. He started all six of the team's games including the bonus point defeats to Gloucester and the victory over Harlequins in the return leg in Galway, which was Connacht's first ever Heineken Cup win.^[5]

In the 2012-13 season, Muldoon did not play as regularly as the previous season, again due to injury.^[10] He featured in only two of Connacht's games in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, but managed to score his first Heineken Cup try against Zebre on 13 October 2012,^[5] while in the 2012–13 Pro 12, Muldoon played 16 games, starting in 9 of them.^[2]

In the 2013–14 Pro 12 and Heineken Cup, Muldoon started out the year sharing the captaincy with both Duffy and Connacht's longest serving player, Michael Swift.^[11] After a poor run of form culminating in a 43-10 defeat against Edinburgh, former captain of Super Rugby side the Chiefs, Craig Clarke, was made Connacht's team captain with Muldoon and the others continuing to "lead off the field".^[12]

Muldoon reached the landmark of playing over 200 times for the province in the 2013–14 season, with his 200th appearance coming on 13 September 2013 against the Cardiff Blues in the Pro 12.^[13] In December 2013 Muldoon signed a new contract with Connacht to keep him at the province until 2016.^[14]

Reinstated as captain (2014–present)

Following the forced retirement of Craig Clarke due to persistent concussions at the end of the 2013–14 season,^[15] Muldoon was once again handed the captaincy in August 2014.^[16]

International

Muldoon has represented his country on the international stage at various levels, including playing at Under-19 and Under-21 level. He was capped for the first time at senior level by Ireland on their 2009 tour to North America. He lined out against Canada on 23 May 2009. He also played against the United States on the same tour. Muldoon has also played for and captained the second tier Irish side, which is now known as the Ireland Wolfhounds.^[17]

External links

• Connacht profile
• Sky Sports
• scrum.com

References