Rory Best

Rory Best (born 15 August 1982) is an Irish rugby union footballer. He was raised in Poyntzpass, County Armagh. He plays at the position of Hooker for Ulster and is registered for Banbridge RFC.

Club/Provincial

Best was educated at Tandragee Junior High School, Portadown College and studied Agriculture at Newcastle University where he played with the Newcastle Falcons academy. He returned home to join Belfast Harlequins in 2002 where he captained the team and gained his first Ulster contract in 2004. He made his debut for Ulster as a replacement at home to Munster in the 2005 Celtic League. He replaced his brother Simon as captain of Ulster for the 2007/08 season and continues to hold the position. He is renowned for his abilities as a scrummager. Best missed the entire 2009/10 season due to surgery on a chronic disc problem. Best scored two tries in 2011/12 and 2010/11 for Ulster.

International

Best made his international debut for Ireland as a replacement against the All Blacks at Lansdowne Road in November 2005 and made his first start against the Springboks in 2006. He has been involved with the national team ever since, initially sharing the number 2 shirt with Jerry Flannery. He was a member of the Irish teams that won the 2007 Triple Crown and was in the Irish Squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup as well as the 2009 Six Nations Championship which completed the Grand Slam. He captained the Ireland team that toured North America in 2009, while many of his Ireland team-mates were on the British and Irish Lions team that began their tour of South Africa at the same time.