Maurice Field (born Greenisland, County Antrim, 24 February 1964)[1] is a former Irish rugby union international player who played as a centre for North of Ireland, Malone, Ulster and Ireland.
He was educated at Belfast High School, and started his club rugby career at North of Ireland. He played for Ulster under-20 in 1983, and Ulster under-23 in 1984. He moved clubs to Malone in 1988, and was first selected for the senior Ulster team in September 1989, becoming a regular for the provincial side.[2][1] He was one of the first players to sign a full-time contract with Ulster when the game went professional.[3] He was part of the Ulster squad that won the 1998–99 Heineken Cup, although he was unavailable for the final.[4]
He was selected in the provisional Ireland squad for the 1991 Rugby World Cup,[1] but did not make his international debut until 1994, against England, at the age of 30.[5] He played for Ireland from 1994 to 1997, winning 17 caps. He was a member of the Ireland squad at the 1995 Rugby World Cup where he played in two matches.[6]
During the amateur era, he worked as a firefighter for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. The day before his Ireland debut in 1994, he had attended a fatal car bombing.[7] In 2004 he was appointed Elite Player Development Manager for the Ulster academy.[8] He has worked as a commentator for the BBC and RTÉ.[5] As of March 2022, he lectures in sports management at Ulster University.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b c Karl Johnston, "Maurice's Field of Dreams", Irish Press, 11 February 1994
- ^ Edmund van Esbeck, "A Field still full of dreams", The Irish Times, 30 January 1997
- ^ Patrick McCarry, The New Breed: Irish Rugby's Professional Era, Mercier Press, 2015, p. 67
- ^ Jonathan Bradley, The Last Amateurs: The Incredible Story of Ulster Rugby's 1999 European Champions, The Blackstaff Press, 2018, pp. 176-177
- ^ a b Hugh Farrelly, "'You put on jersey against England and forget wounds' -- Maurice Field", Irish Independent, 15 March 2021
- ^ "Maurice Field". Scrum. ESPN. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
- ^ a b Michael Sadlier, "Maurice Field recalls win over England on Ireland debut just days after being called out to car bomb: ‘Rugby was an out from the stresses of the Troubles’", Sunday Life, 8 March 2022
- ^ Gavin Mairs, "Sweet 16 move into Ulster academy", Belfast Telegraph, 12 August 2004