| Birth name | Denis Patrick Leamy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1981-11-27)27 November 1981 (age 43) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cashel,Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 108 kg (17.0 st; 238 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Rockwell College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Setanta College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Denis Patrick Leamy (born 27 November 1981) is an Irish formerrugby union player who is currently part of the coaching team withMunster. He was a back-row forward who could play eitherflanker or atnumber 8,[1] and occasionally played atcentre.[2][3] He ended his club rugby career forMunster in thePro12 andHeineken Cup, and internationally forIreland. He officially announced his retirement in May 2012 due to a long-standing hip injury.
Leamy's first sport washurling[4] and he initially dreamed of following in the footsteps of his heroesNicky English orPat Fox. He played for his local GAA side,Boherlahan-Dualla, where his early physical strength was noted. His initial introduction to rugby was somewhat accidental, and occurred when he accompanied his two brothers, Ed and Kev, along to a trial game with his local rugby club, Cashel RFC. He harboured some initial reservations, but despite that he joined in the game and kept going back to play at the club.[5]
A neighbour and family friend recommended that he change schools to joinRockwell College, a school heavily focused on rugby. Leamy gave up on hurling when he was 18, concentrating instead on rugby and a possible professional career.
Leamy enrolled inRockwell College when he was 15. In his first year there, he was heavily involved in their successful march on theMunster Schools Junior Cup in 1997. He played for Rockwell Senior Cup Team for three years, the first of which he played atinside centre, before switching back to his more favoured backrow position ofnumber 8.[6] During this time, he was called toClongowes for trials for theIreland Schools team and ended up playing a key role in the Irish Schools' tour of Australia in 2000 when they won all eight games.[7]
Leamy acquired a reputation after an incident with a player fromOld Belvedere. A second incident resulted in a citation and a suspension, and it was due to this citing that Leamy missed an U21 game against Wales.[8] Leamy captained the side in their final match against France. Leamy moved on from his international schools career to be picked for the Ireland U21 team, where he was capped.[9] He was involved in another incident, again being cited, and this citation meant that Leamy was banned from attending the U21 World Cup. Leamy's temper was given further ammunition during the same season when he was playing for UCC in Division 2 of the AIL. Leamy was cited and punished for an incident in a game againstTerenure College RFC, before returning that year.[7]
After finishing school inRockwell, Leamy went toCIT to study Leisure Management, and started to play for UCC in the second division of the AIL. Declan Kidney brought him into the Munster setup on a development contract[10] and he was awarded his first Munster cap at the age of 19.[4] In the 2003/2004 season, Leamy moved from a development contract to a full-time contract.[11]
The highlights of Leamy's career withMunster is undoubtedly winning theHeineken Cup twice, first in 2006 and then again in 2008, scoring a try in the final. He was also the province's top try scorer in the 2006/2007 season with 7 tries.[12] He captained Munster for part of the 2010–11 season in the absence of Paul O'Connell.
Leamy was selected in the Ireland Squad in November 2004. He played against theUS Eagles, and played at Number 8 for Ireland for the first time in a 7–45 drubbing byNew Zealand. In the following year, Leamy made hisSix Nations debut againstItaly, this time in the number 7 jersey.
As Leamy was not selected for the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa, he played in Ireland's 2009 Summer Tests. He played againstAustralia andFiji in the 2009 November Tests before injury ruled him out of the remaining match againstSouth Africa. He missed the 2010 Six Nations and Summer Tests through injury, but returned to play againstSamoa, New Zealand andArgentina in the 2010 November Tests. He played in four of Ireland's 2011 Six Nations games, and won his 50th cap for Ireland when he came on as a replacement againstEngland in March 2011. Leamy was selected in Ireland's training squad for the 2011 World Cup warm-ups in August, and was also selected in the final 30-man squad to travel to New Zealand.
A hip injury ruled Leamy out of action for four months in January 2012,[13] meaning he missed selection for the2012 Six Nations Championship.[14]
Leamy announced his retirement from rugby on 22 May 2012, due to a hip injury suffered during the 2011–12 season.[15]
Speaking at the announcement, Leamy said:
I find it hard to put into words how much it has meant to me to play for Munster and Ireland. It was a dream come true and I was very lucky to play with some of the greatest players ever to wear the jerseys and feel blessed that I was part of winning teams. I've had a great career, wish it had gone on a little longer but I'd like to thank all the coaches, players, medical staff and management who have helped me over the past decade. It's been a great honour to be involved with such an outstanding group of people.[16]I'd also like to thank the fans most sincerely. I fully appreciate the sacrifices they've made, spending their hard earned cash to cheer us on, be it Munster or Ireland, at home games and all over Europe. Their support has been truly fantastic and a memory I'll carry forever.[17][18][19]
Following his retirement, Leamy moved into coaching, working withRockwell College,Garryowen andMunster's underage teams, as well as spending time asCashel RFC's head coach and Clonmel RFC head coach. He was also part of the backroom team for theTipperary side that won the2016 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final. Leamy joinedLeinster Rugby as an elite player development officer in October 2019, and joined theIreland national under-20 rugby union team as their forwards coach in January 2021.[20][21] He was promoted to Leinster's senior coaching team as a contact skills coach in October 2021.[22] Leamy returned to his home provinceMunster to take up the defence coach role vacated byJP Ferreira on a three-year contract from the 2022–23 season.[23]
Leamy married Gráinne Brosnahan, his partner of three years, in September 2013.[24]
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Tries | Points | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
 Australia | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 20 |
 Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 England | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 66.67 |
 Fiji | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 France | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
 Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Italy | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Namibia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 New Zealand | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific Islanders | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Romania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Russia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Samoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Scotland | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83.33 |
 South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
 Wales | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
| Total | 57 | 36 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 63.16 |
Correct as of 5 July 2017[25]