Ali Birch (born 13 October 1988) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He played at flanker, for Ulster and Rotherham Titans professionally, and at amateur level for Dungannon RFC and City of Armagh RFC. After retiring as a player following a series of concussions in 2017, he became City of Armagh's assistant forwards coach.
| Date of birth | 13 October 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st; 200 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birch was educated at Royal School Armagh,[1] and played club rugby for Dungannon, where he was tipped as a future Ulster player by former IRFU president Andy Crawford.[2] He was selected for the Ulster Ravens for a friendly against the Ireland u20s in January 2010,[3] and also played for the Ravens in the British and Irish Cup.[4] He made an appearance from the bench for the Ulster senior team in their final match of the 2009–10 Celtic League.[5] At the end of the 2009-10 season he was nominated for the Ken Goodall Award for outstanding club player of the year for his performances with Dungannon.[6] He was named in the Ulster academy for 2010-11.[7] His first senior start came against Leinster in December 2011,[8] and he made four more substitute appearances during the rest of the 2011-12 season.[9] The following season he made four appearances, including two starts.[10] He joined Rotherham Titans ahead of the 2013-14 season,[11] and played there for three seasons, making 64 appearances including 40 starts and scoring nine tries.[12] In 2016 he returned to Irish club rugby, joining City of Armagh and being named the team's captain. He led them to their first title in senior rugby, winning the Ulster Senior League in 2016, and helped them win promotion to Division 2A of the All-Ireland League.[1] He retired as a player on medical advice following a series of concussions in December 2017, and joined City of Armagh's coaching team as assistant forwards coach.[13][14]
References
edit- ^ a b Michael Sadlier, "Concussions cause former Ulster player to call time on playing days", Belfast Telegraph, 11 December 2017
- ^ Niall Crozier, "Birch can rise right to the top", Belfast Telegraph, 16 October 2009
- ^ Ciaran Donaghy, "Ravens ring changes", Belfast Telegraph, 2 January 2010
- ^ Richard Mulligan, "We are ready for this insists Gary", News Letter, 23 April 2010
- ^ Michael Sadlier, "Ulster ratings", Belfast Telegraph, 8 May 2010
- ^ "Gala bash to bring curtain down", News Letter, 18 May 2010
- ^ "Phoenix Ulster Rugby Academy", Ulster Rugby, archived 23 January 2011
- ^ Michael Sadlier, "High five for Ulster in Dublin new look", Belfast Telegraph, 24 December 2011
- ^ Alistair Birch, appearances 2011-12, ItsRugby.co.uk, retrieved 3 August 2022
- ^ Alistair Birch, appearances 2012-13, ItsRugby.co.uk, retrieved 3 August 2022
- ^ David Kelly, "Fortunes in hands of foreign legion", Irish Independent, 5 August 2013
- ^ Alistair Birch, appearance statistics at ItsRugby.co.uk, retrieved 3 August 2022
- ^ Michael Sadlier, "Armagh out to win Senior Cup for retired skipper Ali Birch", Belfast Telegraph, 19 December 2017
- ^ "Former Armagh RFC captain forced into retirement joins club coaching staff", Armagh Independent, 13 December 2017