Bath breakthrough star Ciaran Donoghue has dual Test claims

Ciaran Donoghue, Bath’s breakthrough star, is fast making a case for a place on England’s tour of Argentina and the United States this summer.

Summer tours in Lions years are traditionally used to blood young and emerging talent, and Donoghue has been exceptional in Bath’s bid to win a treble.

Having spent most of his previous three years at Bath either injured or on loan at Dings Crusaders in National 2, the former Millfield pupil is the discovery of the season, taking whatever chances have come his way.

The 22-year-old played a starring role in Bath’s Premiership Rugby Cup win, initially at 15 before moving to 10, and has since turned in two Man of the Match performances in his last three games.

Donoghue kicked seven out of seven off the tee as well as tearing Pau apart with his line-breaking ability in the Round of 16 Challenge Cup clash, before scoring a brilliant solo try 100 seconds into his Premiership debut against Newcastle last weekend.

In the 55-19 win against the Falcons, Donoghue beat 13 defenders – the most by an individual player in a Premiership match this season. He also became the first player to come up with four try assists, as well as scoring one himself and contributing a further 13 points in another flawless goal-kicking display.

1′ | What a score!

Ciaran Donoghue attacks from deep inside his half, breaking through and putting on the afterburners to run in an incredible solo try. Donoghue converts his own score.

🛁7-0🦅 pic.twitter.com/c12VBOCyJE

— Bath Rugby (@BathRugby) April 26, 2025

A late developer, who wasn’t selected for any international age group sides, Donoghue is certainly making up for lost time, and his form and surname probably won’t have gone unnoticed on the other side of the Irish Sea.

Born into a military family in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Donoghue qualifies for both England and Ireland.

Until I raised it during Bath’s media session a few weeks ago, Donoghue’s dual nationality hadn’t been the topic of much discussion and which country to throw his lot in is not something he’s considered yet, either.

“My mum’s Irish, but that’s a long time away, before I have got to think about anything like that,” he said.

Whilst he remains at Bath – he extended his contract last year for an undisclosed period – Ireland isn’t an option anyway, as you have to be playing for one of the four provinces to be considered for national team selection.

And given his form and the fact Finn Russell has just over a year to run on his contract, Bath will see Donoghue as the player to build their backline around for many years to come.

English rugby fans have grown used to seeing Henry Pollock doing Henry Pollock things, but Donoghue seems to be cut from the same cloth, in terms of his ability to turn on the magic and rise to the occasion.

The mark of a player confident in his own skin, and skills, is being able to put a mistake behind them and move on, and he would have learnt loads from playing and training with Finn Russell in that regard.

It is also a credit to the environment that Johann van Graan has built at Farleigh House that relative rookies like Donoghue can step in – and step up – straight away if needed.

Injuries to Orlando Bailey and Sam Harris have bumped him up the queue behind Russell at 10, and Donoghue says he’s felt entirely comfortable translating what he does in training to the heat of battle, whether it be in Europe or the league.

“I don’t think it’s too much of a challenge because, obviously, we train hard every week, and I might only get a few opportunities on the field but Johann (van Graan) sees me every day on the training pitch, so he sees all of that, he sees more of the picture than you guys in the media and the fans in the stadium will see,” said Donoghue.

“When I am on the pitch, I just want to play as well as I can, keep it simple, and then parts of my game that went well at the weekend will just come naturally to me.

“I’ve taken a lot of confidence from the run we had in the Prem Cup, the faith the coaches have put in me, and also it’s easier when you are playing with 14 other lads, and those on the bench, who are playing at the top of their game.”

What a season this guy is having 👏

A stunning opening try in his first ever @premrugby appearance and today’s Champagne Pol Roger Performance of the Match is Ciaran Donoghue 🍾

Congratulations, Ciaran 🤝 pic.twitter.com/hhZi3rhpcj

— Bath Rugby (@BathRugby) April 26, 2025

Donoghue admits he learnt to thrive in men’s rugby whilst at Dings, as well as understanding when to play and when not to play.

“My last year there was massive in terms of my development, not only in terms of playing men’s rugby and realising on a  Sunday morning how sore your body feels, but also in terms of getting valuable touches, valuable experiences.

“There were times when I was trying to run it out of my own 22, and Stean (Williams), the DoR, was going grey from what I was up to. But he stuck with me, he showed me confidence.

“The whole culture they had there was really fantastic. In the two years I had there, they made me feel so welcome, and obviously we went and won National 2 and got promotion, and that was an amazing thing to be a part of, and has driven me to feel that success.

“I want to push on with that here, like we have done with the cup, and hopefully with more to come.”