| Full name | Donal Eugene Spring | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 23 August 1956 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Donal Eugene Spring (born 23 August 1956) is an Irish solicitor and former rugby union international.[1]
Born in Tralee, County Kerry, Spring is the youngest son of Labour Party politician Dan Spring, who was a footballer in his youth for Kerry GAA. One of his elder brothers, Dick Spring, was capped three times for Ireland as a fullback and became a long serving Labour Party leader. All three brothers attended Cistercian College, Roscrea.[2]
Spring, a forward, appeared 16 times for Munster and was the number eight when in 1978 they became the first Irish team to defeat the All Blacks.[3] As both a lock and number eight, he was capped seven times for Ireland from 1979 to 1981, largely while with Dublin University. He was a club captain of Lansdowne, where he played in three Leinster Senior Cup and four Leinster Senior League wins, across two stints. In between, he played club rugby in France for Bagnérais.[4]
Qualified as a solicitor since 1982, Spring is the Principal of Dublin firm Daniel Spring & Co. Solicitors.[5] Spring is also a racehorse owner and breeder - in 2023 he won the Flying Five Stakes with his horse Moss Tucker, named after his Munster team-mates Moss Keane and Colm Tucker.[6]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Last Hurrah for the Lost Leader". Sunday Tribune. 6 March 1988.
- ^ Nolan, Pat (6 March 2021). "Ten GAA families who have produced some of Ireland's greatest ever sports stars". Irish Mirror.
- ^ English, Alan (1 November 2018). "Munster's 1978 heroes on living with the physical toll of rugby". Limerick Leader.
- ^ "Spring time in France". Irish Independent. 3 March 1990.
- ^ Thornley, Gerry (24 October 1998). "History Makers: Munster's men who beat the All Blacks 12-0 on October 31st, 1978". The Irish Times.
- ^ O'Connor, Brian (10 September 2023). "Moss Tucker springs a surprise at the Curragh as two rugby greats remembered in victory". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 October 2023.