The loneliness of rugby’s forgotten men

Many rugby players are forced to quench their passion and abandon the sport due to financial constraints

Dave Ryan playing for Agen In the French Top 14 Picture: Getty
Jordan Coghlan Pic: Inpho

Many years back, the story emerged in Irish rugby circles of Luke O’Callaghan.

A Clare man who had dabbled in the club game, he ended up at Trinity College Dublin studying Russian and later moving to Kazakhstan, where he met his future wife and was an interrupter for the oil industry.

That wasn’t what piqued the curiosity of some though, rather it was the fact he became an international there.

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