David Humphreys (rugby union)
Encyclopedia
David Humphreys MBE
(Gaeilge, Daithi Mac Unfraidh) (born 10 September 1971, Belfast
, Northern Ireland
) is a retired rugby
player. He played for 72 times for Ireland
(scoring 560 pts, including 6 tries) and for Ulster
.
, the Queen's University of Belfast
and Oxford University
. Humphreys has represented Ireland at A, U21 and schools levels and has also captained the Barbarians
. He led the Ireland Schools' side to the Triple Crown
back in 1992 when he was at Ballymena Academy
. He broke into the Ulster senior squad a year later helping them to victory over Cumbria at Cockermouth.
Humphreys was a law student at Queen's University of Belfast
at the time. When he graduated, he moved to Oxford University
. At the 1995 Varsity Match
Humphreys scored all Oxford
's points (a try, conversion, drop goal and three penalties) in their defeat by Cambridge
21-19. Humphreys duly qualified as a solicitor
and came under the tutelage of a Belfast practice whose senior partner was Mike Gibson, a noted rugby player. Humphreys converted from the amateur game to the professional ranks with London Irish
whose coaches included Willie Anderson
and Clive Woodward
.
Humphreys made his Ireland
debut against France
on 17 February 1996, and went on to win over 70 caps, making him Ireland's most capped fly-half. He returned to Ulster with the advent of professionalism in the province at the beginning of the 1998-99 season and captained Ulster to European Cup
glory in 1999 - the province defeated Colomiers
in the European Cup final at Lansdowne Road
in Dublin.
Humphreys was a formidable outside half with excellent positional kicking from the hand, accurate and consistent goal kicking plus devastating acceleration from a standing start which regularly set up try-scoring moves in the three-quarter line. In addition, his drop goal was a vital part of Ulster and Ireland's armoury in the late stages of close games.
Later in his career, he suffered from inconsistent form and competed with Munster's
Ronan O'Gara
, who would eventually surpass him as Ireland's most-capped fly-half, for a place in the Ireland team. In the 2003-4 season he lost his Ireland place in the side, but with O'Gara on Lions duty, he played in both of the summer 2005 Tests against Japan - captaining the side twice. He came on as a substitute against New Zealand in November 2005, and did the same against Australia the following week. Humphreys captained Ireland for the fifth time in the November 2005 win against Romania.
David Humphreys announced his retirement from international rugby after being an unused replacement throughout the 2006 Six Nations campaign. Humphreys cemented a reputation for last-ditch heroics in the final match of the 2005-6 season. Ulster had gone into the final week of competition narrowly leading the Celtic League, but a decisive win for Leinster away to Edinburgh concluded during the final minutes of Ulster's final match, against the Ospreys in South Wales
. With Ulster two points behind with just four minutes to go and the Ospreys dominating territorially, it looked like the cup would go to Dublin. Humphreys, however, kicked a last minute 40 metre drop goal to clinch the game and the league for Ulster.
He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster
in 2003 for Services to Sport and an MBE in the Queens New Year's Honours List in January 2004.
Humphreys played his last ever match for Ulster and possibly in the sport against Cardiff Blues
in the Magners League on 9 May 2008. He led the team onto the pitch to a standing ovation from the Ravenhill
crowd. He was subbed off after 8 minutes with a bad limp, again to a standing ovation from the Ulster supporters as well as the Cardiff staff.
His younger brother Ian Humphreys
is also a fly-half who currently plays for Ulster - and has represented Ireland A and at Sevens
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(Gaeilge, Daithi Mac Unfraidh) (born 10 September 1971, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
) is a retired rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player. He played for 72 times for Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
(scoring 560 pts, including 6 tries) and for Ulster
Ulster Rugby
Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
.
Life & Career
Humphreys was educated at Ballymena AcademyBallymena Academy
Ballymena Academy is a mixed grammar school located in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in the early nineteenth century as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland.-Admissions:The school currently has...
, the Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
and Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. Humphreys has represented Ireland at A, U21 and schools levels and has also captained the Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
. He led the Ireland Schools' side to the Triple Crown
Triple Crown (Rugby Union)
In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...
back in 1992 when he was at Ballymena Academy
Ballymena Academy
Ballymena Academy is a mixed grammar school located in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in the early nineteenth century as a small provincial school for children in the town and surrounding agricultural hinterland.-Admissions:The school currently has...
. He broke into the Ulster senior squad a year later helping them to victory over Cumbria at Cockermouth.
Humphreys was a law student at Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
at the time. When he graduated, he moved to Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. At the 1995 Varsity Match
The Varsity Match
The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. By tradition, the match is held on the second Tuesday of December. In 2005, however, this changed, and the match was on Tuesday 6 December. In 2007, it was held on a Thursday for...
Humphreys scored all Oxford
Oxford University RFC
The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.-History:...
's points (a try, conversion, drop goal and three penalties) in their defeat by Cambridge
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...
21-19. Humphreys duly qualified as a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
and came under the tutelage of a Belfast practice whose senior partner was Mike Gibson, a noted rugby player. Humphreys converted from the amateur game to the professional ranks with London Irish
London Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
whose coaches included Willie Anderson
Willie Anderson (rugby coach)
Willie Anderson is a rugby union coach and former Ireland international. A lock, Anderson was capped 27 times for the national side between 1984 and 1990, some of which as captain...
and Clive Woodward
Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward OBE is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He is currently the British Olympic Association's Director of Elite Performance.-Early life:Woodward was born in Ely...
.
Humphreys made his Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
debut against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
on 17 February 1996, and went on to win over 70 caps, making him Ireland's most capped fly-half. He returned to Ulster with the advent of professionalism in the province at the beginning of the 1998-99 season and captained Ulster to European Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
glory in 1999 - the province defeated Colomiers
US Colomiers
US Colomiers is a French rugby union club currently competing in Fédérale 1, the third level of the French rugby pyramid. They had been relegated from Pro D2 after finishing last in the 2006-07 season, but earned promotion from Fédérale 1 at the first opportunity in 2007-08, and survived a...
in the European Cup final at Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts...
in Dublin.
Humphreys was a formidable outside half with excellent positional kicking from the hand, accurate and consistent goal kicking plus devastating acceleration from a standing start which regularly set up try-scoring moves in the three-quarter line. In addition, his drop goal was a vital part of Ulster and Ireland's armoury in the late stages of close games.
Later in his career, he suffered from inconsistent form and competed with Munster's
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
Ronan O'Gara
Ronan O'Gara
Ronan John Ross O'Gara is an Irish rugby union player, playing at fly-half for both Munster and Ireland. He is the all time highest point scorer for both Munster and Ireland. In addition to his prolific point-scoring, he has captained Munster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions...
, who would eventually surpass him as Ireland's most-capped fly-half, for a place in the Ireland team. In the 2003-4 season he lost his Ireland place in the side, but with O'Gara on Lions duty, he played in both of the summer 2005 Tests against Japan - captaining the side twice. He came on as a substitute against New Zealand in November 2005, and did the same against Australia the following week. Humphreys captained Ireland for the fifth time in the November 2005 win against Romania.
David Humphreys announced his retirement from international rugby after being an unused replacement throughout the 2006 Six Nations campaign. Humphreys cemented a reputation for last-ditch heroics in the final match of the 2005-6 season. Ulster had gone into the final week of competition narrowly leading the Celtic League, but a decisive win for Leinster away to Edinburgh concluded during the final minutes of Ulster's final match, against the Ospreys in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
. With Ulster two points behind with just four minutes to go and the Ospreys dominating territorially, it looked like the cup would go to Dublin. Humphreys, however, kicked a last minute 40 metre drop goal to clinch the game and the league for Ulster.
He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
in 2003 for Services to Sport and an MBE in the Queens New Year's Honours List in January 2004.
Humphreys played his last ever match for Ulster and possibly in the sport against Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....
in the Magners League on 9 May 2008. He led the team onto the pitch to a standing ovation from the Ravenhill
Ravenhill Stadium
Ravenhill Stadium is located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is used by Ulster Rugby. It has a normal capacity of 12,300 and is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union.-History:The grounds were opened in the 1923/24 season...
crowd. He was subbed off after 8 minutes with a bad limp, again to a standing ovation from the Ulster supporters as well as the Cardiff staff.
His younger brother Ian Humphreys
Ian Humphreys
Ian Humphreys is a Irish rugby union footballer, who plays at fly-half for Ulster in the RaboDirect Pro12...
is also a fly-half who currently plays for Ulster - and has represented Ireland A and at Sevens
Ireland national rugby union team (sevens)
The Ireland national rugby union sevens team have previously competed in the IRB Sevens World Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens. Although there is no permanent team at present, there may well be in the future.-Results:...
.