Michael Bradley (rugby union)

Michael Bradley
Full name Michael Bradley
Date of birth 17 November 1962
Place of birth Cork, Ireland
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Scrum-half
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
Munster 40 (56)
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1984-1995 Ireland 40 (40)
Coaching career
Years Club / team
2003-2010
2010-2011
2011-2013		 Connacht
Georgia
Edinburgh
correct as of 30 March 2013.
Rugby union career

Michael Bradley (born 17 November 1962 in County Cork, Ireland) is a former Munster and Irish rugby union player. He is the assistant head coach of Georgia International Rugby Team.

Playing career

He played primarily at scrum half and was capped 40 times for Ireland, 15 times as captain, scoring 40 points in the process.[1] He made his debut in 1984 against Australia and was a member of the 1985 Triple Crown [2] team. His final game for Ireland was in 1995 against the All Blacks

Coaching career

Bradley was appointed Irish U21 coach on a full time capacity in 2002 by the Irish Rugby Football Union. In 2003 Bradley was appointed head coach of Connacht Rugby as well as being appointed head coach of Ireland A, positions he held for seven years until leaving Connacht and Irish Rugby in 2010.

Under Bradley Connacht Rugby secured qualification to the playoff stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup on six of his seven years in charge reaching the semi-final on two occasions.

In early 2008 Bradley was appointed the Irish interim head coach and lead the senior international rugby team on their summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.

In 2010 to 2011, Bradley was part of the Georgian International Rugby Coaching team that completed a Grand Slam in the 2011 ENC Championship.

In May 2011, Bradley was appointed head coach of Edinburgh on a two-year contract.[3]

Under Bradley Edinburgh Rugby had their must successful season in their history. Edinburgh Rugby topped their ERC qualification pool ( which included London Irish, Racing Metro 92 and Cardiff Blues) and reached the 2012 Heineken Cup semi final for the first time in their history after overcoming French giants Toulouse (who won the Top14 that year) in the quarter final in the Scottish capital. Edinburgh Rugby lost out to Ulster Rugby in a closely contested semi-final.

In February 2012 Bradley was appointed Scotland A coach and delivered a famous victory over the England Saxons in the Scottish Borders region with a stunning winning margin of 35 points to nil.

Bradley has been the assistant head coach of Georgia International Rugby Team since June 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Bradley player profile". ESPN Scrum. 28 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Rugby Heroes Web Site – http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=3184
  3. ↑ "Bradley lands job with Edinburgh". RTÉ Sport. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-04.