Moss Keane
Encyclopedia
Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane (27 July 1948 – 5 October 2010) was a rugby union
footballer who played for Ireland
and the British and Irish Lions
.
, Keane started out as a Gaelic football
er, playing at college level for University College Cork and in the process winning a number of medals including three Sigerson Cup
s, one Cork County Championship and a Munster Club Championship, he also played in an All Ireland Club Final. He represented Kerry
gaelic footballer's at U-21 and Junior level as a full back, winning Munser Championships at both levels, playing in an All Ireland at Junior level. In 2011 the Kerry County Board name the cup for the winners of the Intermediate Shield after him.
He then found rugby through a friend in college, playing for the UCC junior rugby team as 'Moss Fenton', during the Gaelic Athletic Association
(GAA)'s ban on foreign games. He made his international debut for Ireland
on 19 January 1974 against France
in Paris
, a game Ireland lost 9–6 in the 1974 Five Nations Championship
.
Keane became the third Irish forward after Willie John McBride
and Fergus Slattery
to reach 50 international appearances. He scored his one and only test try in a 22-15 victory over Scotland
in February 1980.
He played his 51st and final international against Scotland on 3 March 1984 in Dublin. Ireland lost the match 32–9.
Keane was also a part of the famous Munster
side that defeated the All Blacks in Thomond Park
in 1978
, to this day the only Irish team to have done so.
He toured New Zealand
with Phil Bennett
's British and Irish Lions in 1977, making one Test appearance, and was also a key man in Ireland's 1982 Five Nations Championship
win and their historic Triple Crown
victory in 1982.
.
In 2005 he wrote, with Billy Keane (no kin), his autobiography
, called Rucks, Mauls and Gaelic Football.
saying "one of the great gentleman of Irish sport, would be sadly missed by his many fans and admirers worldwide, Moss Keane was one of the finest rugby players Ireland has ever produced, He was among rugby's best known characters and a legend of the game at home and abroad".
The IRFU
paid tribute to Keane, describing him as one of Irish rugby's "most genuine characters and legends of the game", "Moss had ability on the field that no one could doubt from his record at club, provincial and international level, " IRFU President Caleb Powell said, "UCC, Lansdowne, Munster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions all benefited from his presence and ensured that his reputation will live long in the memories of not only Irish rugby, but world rugby."
Keane is survived by his wife Anne and his two daughters Sarah and Anne Marie. His funeral took place on 7 October in St Michael's Church Portarlington
. Former Ireland international players, including Willie John McBride
, Ollie Campbell
, Tony Ward
, Mick Galwey, Dick Spring
, Donal Lenihan
, Donal Spring and Ciaran Fitzgerald
were in attendance. Keane's coffin was adorned with the jerseys of Ireland, Munster, UCC, Kerry and Currow.
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...
footballer who played 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...
and 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...
.
Life and career
Born at Currow in County KerryCounty Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, Keane started out as a Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
er, playing at college level for University College Cork and in the process winning a number of medals including three Sigerson Cup
Sigerson Cup
The Sigerson Cup is the top division of Higher Education Gaelic football in Ireland, It is administrated by the Higher Education committee which is part of the Gaelic Athletic Association...
s, one Cork County Championship and a Munster Club Championship, he also played in an All Ireland Club Final. He represented Kerry
Kerry GAA
The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...
gaelic footballer's at U-21 and Junior level as a full back, winning Munser Championships at both levels, playing in an All Ireland at Junior level. In 2011 the Kerry County Board name the cup for the winners of the Intermediate Shield after him.
He then found rugby through a friend in college, playing for the UCC junior rugby team as 'Moss Fenton', during the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
(GAA)'s ban on foreign games. He made his international debut 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...
on 19 January 1974 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...
in Paris
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
, a game Ireland lost 9–6 in the 1974 Five Nations Championship
1974 Five Nations Championship
The 1974 Five Nations Championship was the forty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eightieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 19...
.
Keane became the third Irish forward after 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...
and Fergus Slattery
Fergus Slattery
John Fergus Slattery is a former rugby union player who represented Ireland. He played schools rugby for Blackrock College and then moved on to play senior rugby for UCD, before earning a call up to the Ireland team in 1970. During his career Slattery earned 61 caps, 18 as captain, and scored 3...
to reach 50 international appearances. He scored his one and only test try in a 22-15 victory over Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
in February 1980.
He played his 51st and final international against Scotland on 3 March 1984 in Dublin. Ireland lost the match 32–9.
Keane was also a part of the famous Munster
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...
side that defeated the All Blacks in Thomond Park
Thomond Park
Thomond Park is a stadium located in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and count Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. The capacity of the stadium is 26,500 following its large scale redevelopment in...
in 1978
History of rugby union matches between Munster and New Zealand
Munster Rugby has a strong tradition of competitiveness against touring rugby teams. They have played the All Blacks, the national team of New Zealand, 8 times since 1905...
, to this day the only Irish team to have done so.
He toured New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
with Phil Bennett
Phil Bennett
Phillip Bennett was a Welsh international rugby union fly half from 1969 to 1978. His flair and range of tricks, including his famous sidestep and swerve, meant he was a firm favourite with crowds.-Rugby career:...
's British and Irish Lions in 1977, making one Test appearance, and was also a key man in Ireland's 1982 Five Nations Championship
1982 Five Nations Championship
The 1982 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-third series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-eighth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played...
win and their historic 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...
victory in 1982.
Outside sport
Having gained a masters degree in dairy science, Keane worked for the Department of Agriculture during his rugby playing career and retired in July 2010. He kept active playing golf on a weekly basis. In 1993 he was the victim of a vicious muggingMugging
Mugging or mugger may refer to:* A type of street robbery**Steaming , a variation of this type of robbery*Model Mugging, a self-defense training technique.* The Mugger Crocodile, a species native to India, Pakistan, Iran, and Nepal....
.
In 2005 he wrote, with Billy Keane (no kin), his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, called Rucks, Mauls and Gaelic Football.
Illness and death
In 2009 it was reported that Keane was being treated for bowel cancer. He died aged 62 on 5 October 2010. Many tributes were made including Taoiseach Brian CowenBrian Cowen
Brian Cowen is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May...
saying "one of the great gentleman of Irish sport, would be sadly missed by his many fans and admirers worldwide, Moss Keane was one of the finest rugby players Ireland has ever produced, He was among rugby's best known characters and a legend of the game at home and abroad".
The IRFU
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...
paid tribute to Keane, describing him as one of Irish rugby's "most genuine characters and legends of the game", "Moss had ability on the field that no one could doubt from his record at club, provincial and international level, " IRFU President Caleb Powell said, "UCC, Lansdowne, Munster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions all benefited from his presence and ensured that his reputation will live long in the memories of not only Irish rugby, but world rugby."
Keane is survived by his wife Anne and his two daughters Sarah and Anne Marie. His funeral took place on 7 October in St Michael's Church Portarlington
Portarlington
Portarlington is the name of several places:*Portarlington, County Laois, Ireland**Portarlington railway station**Portarlington , a constituency until 1801 in Ireland**Portarlington RFC*Portarlington, Victoria, Australia...
. Former Ireland international players, including 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...
, Ollie Campbell
Ollie Campbell
Seamus Oliver Campbell was an Irish rugby union player from 1976 to 1984. He was educated at Belvedere College, a famous Irish rugby school, where he was on the teams that won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup twice in a row in 1971 and 1972...
, Tony Ward
Tony Ward (rugby player)
Anthony Joseph Patrick Ward , commonly referred to as Tony Ward, was an Irish rugby union and soccer player during the 1970s and 1980s. He played rugby as a fly-half for, among others, Munster, Leinster, , the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians...
, Mick Galwey, Dick Spring
Dick Spring
Richard "Dick" Spring is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was first elected as a Labour Party Teachta Dála in 1981 and retained his seat until 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997...
, Donal Lenihan
Donal Lenihan
Donal Gerard Lenihan is a retired Irish rugby union player with 52 international caps.- Biography:Donal was raised in a sporting background. His father, Gerald Lenihan, was an All-Ireland heavyweight boxing champion and Gaelic footballer of distinction, and played in the same team as Jack Lynch...
, Donal Spring and Ciaran Fitzgerald
Ciaran Fitzgerald
Ciaran Fitzgerald in Loughrea, County Galway is a former Irish rugby union footballer and coach of the national team.- Biography :...
were in attendance. Keane's coffin was adorned with the jerseys of Ireland, Munster, UCC, Kerry and Currow.
Ireland
- Five Nations ChampionshipSix Nations ChampionshipThe Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
:- Winner (2): 19741974 Five Nations ChampionshipThe 1974 Five Nations Championship was the forty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eightieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 19...
, 19821982 Five Nations ChampionshipThe 1982 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-third series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-eighth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played...
- Winner (2): 1974
- Triple CrownTriple 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...
:1982 Five Nations ChampionshipThe 1982 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-third series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-eighth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played...