Rhys Ruddock

Rhys Ruddock is a flanker who represents Leinster and Ireland. In his younger years, he captained the Irish U20 side to victory at the U20 Six Nations Championship.

Born 13 November 1990, Rhys Ruddock is the son of former Wales and Leinster coach Mike Ruddock. Born in Dublin and raised in Wales, he followed in his brother's footsteps and joined the Leinster academy after initially starting his career with Ospreys youth. In 2009, he then made his Leinster debut against Newport Gwent Dragons, who were one of his father's old clubs.

Rhys Ruddock has stayed with Leinster ever since his debut. Since 2009, he's made almost 200 appearances for the Irish province. During this time, he's been hugely successful. He's won the PRO14 (now the United Rugby Championship) title five times, the European Rugby Challenge Cup once, and the European Rugby Heineken Champions Cup on three occasions. On top of this, he was voted into the PRO14 Team of the Year in 2014.

As well as being hugely successful at the domestic level, Rhys Ruddock has also put in several notable performances on the international stage. In the 2009-2010 season, he captained Ireland U20s to victory in the U20 Six Nations Championship. Following this, he was also selected to play for Emerging Ireland and Ireland Wolfhounds.

Since 2010, Rhys Ruddock has also been capped more than 25 times by Ireland. During this period, he helped the side capture the Six Nations Championship in 2014 and he also captained the team in an Autumn International against the United States in 2018.

With several years of elite level rugby still ahead of him, we can't wait to see what else Rhys Ruddock can achieve in the game.