Ballymena Rugby Football Club is a rugby union

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...

 club based in the town of Ballymena

Ballymena

Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....

, 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...

. It is affiliated to the 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...

 branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union

Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played...

. The club fields six adult teams and an under-20 team. In youth rugby there are under-18, under-16 and under-14 teams. The first team will play in Division One of the AIB League

AIB League

The Ulster Bank All-Ireland League is the national league system for the 48 senior rugby union clubs in Ireland, covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is not, however, the highest level of rugby union in Ireland, as teams representing the four provinces of Ireland play...

 in 2007-08, in addition to the Ulster Senior League and Ulster Senior Cup

Ulster Senior Cup

The Ulster Senior Cup is a knock-out competition for senior rugby union teams in the province of Ulster.It is administered by Ulster Rugby.The most successful club is Queen's University with 22 wins...

.

Formation

The club was first affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union

Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played...

 in 1887, but the club did not participate in league competitions until 1922 when it decided to play in the Junior League in the 1923-1924 season. In 1953 Ballymena became a senior club. The club had to wait until 1963 for its first senior success - the Ulster Senior Cup. Many more successes have followed since that date.

Ireland

The following Ballymena players have represented 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...

 at full international level.

Jonathan Bell Jonathan Bell (rugby player) Jonathan Charles Bell is a rugby union player who played at centre for Ulster, Dungannon, Northampton and Ireland. He made his international debut in 1994 against Australia.... Isaac Boss Isaac Boss Isaac Boss is a New Zealand–born Irish rugby union footballer. His grandmother was born in Glenarm, County Antrim, thereby qualifying him to play for Ireland. He plays scrum-half or fullback for Leinster and the Ireland national team... David Humphreys Willie John McBride Willie John McBride William James McBride, MBE, better known as Willie John McBride is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, and toured with the Lions five times — a record that gave him 17... Matt McCullough Matt McCullough Matt McCullough is a retired Irish rugby union footballer. He played for Ulster.McCullough was educated at Ballymena Academy and Trinity College Dublin. He captained the School's 1st XV rugby team 1999–2000, which reached the final of the 2000 Ulster Schools Cup, where they were beaten by... Syd Millar Syd Millar Sydney "Syd" Millar, CBE, is the outgoing chairman of the International Rugby Board. He was born in Ballymena and previously played for Ballymena RFC and represented Ireland in the pack, winning 37 caps as a prop. In addition, he played 9 times for the British and Irish Lions... Dion O'Cuinnegain Trevor Ringland Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, MBE is a solicitor, former rugby union winger and Unionist politician. After attending Larne Grammar School Ringland studied law at Queen's University Belfast.-Rugby career:...

Steve Smith Steve Smith (Irish rugby player) Stephen James Smith is a former Ireland international rugby union player. He played as a hooker.Smith had 25 caps for Ireland, from 1988 to 1993, scoring 2 tries, 8 points in aggregate... Harry Steele James Topping James Topping James Topping is a retired Irish rugby footballer. He won 8 caps for the Irish team between 1996 and 2003, playing on the wing. He also played for Ballymena and Ulster.-References:... Andrew Trimble Andrew Trimble Andrew Trimble is an Irish rugby union footballer from Coleraine, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.- Club career :He attended Coleraine Academical Institution, where he competed in the Ulster Schools Cup.... Davy Tweed Davy Tweed Davy Tweed is a former Irish rugby international and an independent councillor on Ballymena Borough Council.-Political career:... Paddy Wallace Paddy Wallace Paddy Wallace is an Irish rugby union footballer from Belfast where he attended Rockport School and Campbell College. He plays for Ulster. He was a member of the Ireland U19 side that lifted the U19 World Cup in 1998... Bryan Young Bryan Young (rugby player) Bryan Young is an Irish rugby union footballer. He plays for Ulster.Young is from Ballymena, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland. The middle of three children his elder brother Robert is the current captain of the Ballymena RFC XV, whilst his younger sister is studying at Queens University, Belfast.A...

British and Irish Lions

The following Ballymena players have also represented the British and Irish Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

.

Willie John McBride Willie John McBride William James McBride, MBE, better known as Willie John McBride is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, and toured with the Lions five times — a record that gave him 17... : 1962 1962 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1962 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. Overall the tourists played twenty-five matches, winning sixteen, losing five and drawing four.... , 1966 1966 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand In 1966 the British Lions toured Australia and New Zealand. The Lions won the two test matches against but lost all four internationals against the All Blacks.... , 1968 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1968 the British Lions toured South Africa. The tour was not success in terms of international results, the Lions losing the test series against South Africa by three matches to nil, with the other match drawn. The Lions won 15 of their 16 non-international matches, losing only to Transvaal... , 1971 1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand In 1971 the British Lions toured New Zealand, also playing two matches in Australia. Despite losing the first match to Queensland the tour was a great success, the Lions winning the test series against the All Blacks. They are still the only Lions side to have won a test series in New Zealand... , 1974 1974 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1974 the British Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia . The tour was a great success, the Lions winning 21 of their 22 matches and drawing the other. After winning the first three test matches, the Lions drew the final test to preserve their unbeaten record... Syd Millar Syd Millar Sydney "Syd" Millar, CBE, is the outgoing chairman of the International Rugby Board. He was born in Ballymena and previously played for Ballymena RFC and represented Ireland in the pack, winning 37 caps as a prop. In addition, he played 9 times for the British and Irish Lions... : 1962 1962 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1962 the British Lions rugby union team toured Southern and Eastern Africa. Overall the tourists played twenty-five matches, winning sixteen, losing five and drawing four.... , 1968 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1968 the British Lions toured South Africa. The tour was not success in terms of international results, the Lions losing the test series against South Africa by three matches to nil, with the other match drawn. The Lions won 15 of their 16 non-international matches, losing only to Transvaal... Trevor Ringland Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, MBE is a solicitor, former rugby union winger and Unionist politician. After attending Larne Grammar School Ringland studied law at Queen's University Belfast.-Rugby career:... : 1983 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand In 1983 the British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand for the first time since 1977. The Lions went down to a 4-0 whitewash for only the second time in history - the previous was also inflicted by the All Blacks on the 1966 Lions. Overall the Lions played eighteen matches, winning twelve and... Steve Smith Steve Smith (Irish rugby player) Stephen James Smith is a former Ireland international rugby union player. He played as a hooker.Smith had 25 caps for Ireland, from 1988 to 1993, scoring 2 tries, 8 points in aggregate... : 1989 1989 British Lions tour to Australia In 1989 the British Lions toured Australia for the first time since 1971. Despite losing the first test, the Lions won the remaining two to take the series 2-1...

See also

2009/10 Squad

• Full-backs: Ricky Andrew, John Nicholl, Jamie Smith
• Wings: Stephen Castle, Roger McBurney, Tommy Seymour
• Centres: Matthew Banks, Chris Brigl, Peter Budina, Michael Smith, Alan Smyth, Andrew Trimble
  Andrew Trimble
  Andrew Trimble is an Irish rugby union footballer from Coleraine, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.- Club career :He attended Coleraine Academical Institution, where he competed in the Ulster Schools Cup....
  
  , Paddy Wallace
  Paddy Wallace
  Paddy Wallace is an Irish rugby union footballer from Belfast where he attended Rockport School and Campbell College. He plays for Ulster. He was a member of the Ireland U19 side that lifted the U19 World Cup in 1998...
  
  , Ian Whitten
  Ian Whitten
  Ian Whitten is an Irish rugby union player for Ulster in the RaboDirect Pro12. He was capped by Ireland on their 2009 tour to North America when he lined out against Canada on 23 May 2009.He plays as a centre....
  
  
• Out-halves: P. Campbell, Rory Drysdale, Ian Humphreys
  Ian Humphreys
  Ian Humphreys is a Irish rugby union footballer, who plays at fly-half for Ulster in the RaboDirect Pro12...
  
  , Luke Marshall
• Scrum-halves: Isaac Boss
  Isaac Boss
  Isaac Boss is a New Zealand–born Irish rugby union footballer. His grandmother was born in Glenarm, County Antrim, thereby qualifying him to play for Ireland. He plays scrum-half or fullback for Leinster and the Ireland national team...
  
  , Gareth Fisher, Allen McCluggage, Richard McCrudden, David O'Hara
• Front-rows: James Carson, Andrew Ferguson, Adrian Kirkpatrick, Simon Shawe, Bryan Young
  Bryan Young (rugby player)
  Bryan Young is an Irish rugby union footballer. He plays for Ulster.Young is from Ballymena, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland. The middle of three children his elder brother Robert is the current captain of the Ballymena RFC XV, whilst his younger sister is studying at Queens University, Belfast.A...
  
  
• Hookers: John Burns, Chris Candell, James Taggart, Andrew Warwick
• Second-rows: Darren Best, Matt McCullough
  Matt McCullough
  Matt McCullough is a retired Irish rugby union footballer. He played for Ulster.McCullough was educated at Ballymena Academy and Trinity College Dublin. He captained the School's 1st XV rugby team 1999–2000, which reached the final of the 2000 Ulster Schools Cup, where they were beaten by...
  
  , Darrell O'Kane, Chris Smyth, Dan Tuohy
  Dan Tuohy
  Dan Tuohy is an Ireland international rugby union player, currently playing for Ulster Rugby. He plays as a lock.-Career:Tuohy started rugby on the wing for Weston-super-Mare R.F.C...
  
  , Mark Wilson, Bob Young
• Wing-forwards: Joel Andrew, Mark Connaughty, Ryan Fisher, Ross Hackney, Andrew Kerr, Paul Pritchard, Paul Smith
• Number 8s: Chris Henry
  Chris Henry (rugby player)
  Chris Henry in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is an Irish rugby union footballer. He plays for Ulster and Ballymena Rugby Club.He was educated at the Wallace High School in Lisburn before going to Queen's University Belfast....
  
  , Sam McKinney (captain)

External links

• Ballymena RFC website
• Ulster Rugby website