Best Counties for Producing Ireland's Rugby Captains

Rugby in Ireland has always been hugely popular and the Emerald Isle’s international track record is nothing to be sniffed at. 

Ireland are currently No.1 in the World Rugby Rankings having won their 15th Six Nations title in March 2023, along with a 13th Triple Crown and a fourth Grand Slam. It was also the first time Ireland has clinched the Grand Slam in Dublin. 

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As well as this, Ireland defeated arch rivals England in the process – on St Patrick's Day weekend to make the victory even more sweet. It would be fair to assume there were a few sore heads the morning after that one!

With the Rugby World Cup 2023 almost here it appears the team is in great shape to bring home the trophy for the first time, with bookies making them fourth favourites behind France, who are on home turf, the ever-present New Zealand and 2019 RWC winners South Africa.

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton has already confirmed he will retire following the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

Sexton has represented Ireland at three Rugby World Cup competitions already, at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 editions.

The 37-year-old recently hit the milestone of 500 Six Nations Championship points and has made 103 international appearances so far during his career. 

Sexton is, however, just one of many great Irish captains who have donned the famous green jersey. The likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Keith Wood and Willie John McBride are just a few names who are legends of the game, not only in Ireland but on the world stage. 

All that considered, the research team at Gambling.com decided to work out the best counties for producing Ireland’s rugby captains.  

The numbers were tallied up based on the following: Irish rugby captains who were born in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) and Irish rugby captains who have represented their country for the past 50 years (since 1973). 

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What are the Best Counties for Producing Irish Rugby Captains?

The study discovered Limerick is the best county for producing Irish rugby captains in the past 50 years. Even though Dublin had twice the number of captains with 10 to Limerick’s five, Limerick took the crown based on per capita statistics to make the study as fair as possible.

In second place was County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, while County Carlow took third place to join them on the podium. Dublin were tied sixth place along with Cork. 

The research team also decided to find out which opposition teams were the most common for first time Irish rugby captains. 

It was revealed that France, hosts of the 2023 World Cup, were the most played opposition for first time Irish rugby captains. A tricky fixture to play with that new responsibility! 

Wales, New Zealand and England were tied in second place while Scotland made up the top five in this study. 

Come September 9, when Ireland take to the field for their first game of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Andy Farrell’s side will be hoping their recent form and the luck of the Irish will be on their side as Emerald Isle aim to bring home the trophy for the first time in their history. 

Methodology

In order to work out the Best Counties for Producing Ireland's Rugby Captains Gambling.com did the following:

• Tallied up Irish rugby captains place of birth (counties) – only including captains who were born in Ireland (including Northern Ireland)
• Only included Irish rugby captains who have represented their country for the past 50 years (since 1973)
• Compiled numbers and split data into Irish counties 

All counties represented in the study were then ranked from top to bottom per capita for an overall top 10. 

All data was collected on September 1, 2023.

Data sources: Irish Rugby