Marty Moore (rugby union)

Marty Moore
Birth nameMartin Moore
Date of birth (1991-03-01) 1 March 1991 (age 33)
Place of birthDublin, Ireland
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight118 kg (18 st 8 lb)[1]
SchoolCastleknock College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Current team Ulster
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Lansdowne ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–2016
2016–2018
2018–2024		 Leinster
Wasps
Ulster		 58
51
94		 (10)
(5)
(30)
Correct as of 18 February 2024
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2010–2011
2014–2022
2014–2015		 Ireland U20
Ireland Wolfhounds
Ireland		 7
2
10		 (5)
(5)
(0)
Correct as of 15 November 2022

Marty Moore (born 1 March 1991) is an Irish former rugby union player who played tighthead prop for Leinster, Wasps and Ulster, and won ten caps for Ireland.

Moore was educated at Castleknock College outside Dublin. He received summer coaching from the age of 14 from Leinster's Talent Identification Programme and went on tour with them to South Africa as a 16-year-old in 2007. He played for Leinster at schools, under-18 and under-19 level, and played for Ireland at under-18, 19 & 20 level.[2] He was part of the combined Leinster-Ulster team that played a combined Munster-Connacht side to inaugurate the Aviva Stadium in 2010.[3] He joined the Leinster Academy,[2] and made his senior debut in September 2012 against the Scarlets.[4] He signed a development contract ahead of the 2013-14 season, during which he made 28 appearances, including 16 starts, and made his first five appearances for Ireland in the 2014 Six Nations Championship, all as a replacement.[2] Five more appearances from the bench followed in the 2015 Six Nations Championship,[5] but he missed the 2015 World Cup through injury.[6]

He rejected a two-year contract extension with Leinster and on 25 January 2016 signed a deal with English Premiership side Wasps from the 2016–17 season.[7] After two injury-interrupted seasons with Wasps, he signed for Ulster ahead of the 2018–19 season, hoping to be in consideration for more Ireland appearances.[8][9] He made 20 appearances in his first season with Ulster, making 182 tackles with a 93% success rate,[10] and was called up to an Ireland training squad in December 2019.[11] He remained Ulster's leading tighthead the following season.[12] In 2020–21 he made 23 appearances and made 162 tackles with a 92.49% success rate.[13] In 2021–22 he split time with Tom O'Toole for the tighthead position.[14] In the 2022–23 season he made eleven appearances, including nine starts, before his season was ended by an anterior cruciate ligament tear sustained against Munster on 1 January 2023.[15] After a year on the sidelines, he made five more appearances for Ulster before announcing his retirement on medical grounds in September 2024, having made 94 appearances for Ulster.[16]

  1. ^ "Ulster Rugby | Senior Team". Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Gerry Thornley, "From Barnhall’s mini leagues to Ireland’s frontrow Marty Moore refects [sic] on his rugby journey", The Irish Times, 1 February 2015
  3. ^ "Teams named for first Aviva Stadium game", Irish Examiner, 30 July 2010
  4. ^ "All Fixtures & Results".
  5. ^ International playing stats at ItsRugby.co.uk
  6. ^ "Wasps sign Ireland tighthead Marty Moore", Premiership Rugby, 25 January 2016
  7. ^ "Wasps sign Ireland and Leinster prop Marty Moore". BBC Sport. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Marty Moore to join Ulster Rugby next season", Wasps, 23 November 2017
  9. ^ "Marty Moore: Wasps prop to join Ulster on two-year deal at end of this season". BBC Sport. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Making an impact at Ulster Rugby", The Front Row Union, 23 May 2019
  11. ^ Jonathan Bradley, "Marty Moore no longer focused on Ireland ambitions even with two tightheads missing for summer games", Belfast Telegraph, 1 June 2021
  12. ^ "The Ulster depth chart: Madigan and Mathewson add experience", The42, 29 July 2020
  13. ^ Ulster 2020-21 - Who Did What?, The Front Row Union, 12 August 2021
  14. ^ Neil Treacy, "'I'm probably hitting some of my best rugby now' - Marty Moore happy to wait for Ireland's call", RTÉ Sport, 27 January 2022
  15. ^ Shane Donovan, "Ulster's Marty Moore to see surgeon after ACL injury confirmed", Irish Examiner, 10 January 2023
  16. ^ "Ulster's Marty Moore retires from pro rugby on medical advice", RTÉ Sport, 23 September 2024