Old Haberdashers RFC

Bio - But for this fine sport, Andrew "Irish" Gray's life may have turned out very differently.  A pensive, reserved intellectual in his youth, shortly after picking up the oval ball he soon became addicted to that most treasured of rugby player side-effects - arrogance.  Married with her frequent partner, vanity, this arrogance has driven Irish to spend many (largely futile) hours in the gym in the hope of more frequently crossing that white line for those prized few seconds of basking.    Irish is also the current skipper of the club, this dubious honour having been bestowed upon him at the end of last season.

Position - A naturally lanky individual, Irish was condemned to the second row from the beginning.  However, unlike others who lacked the minerals to dominate in the "engine room" he naturally took to the position.  Unfortunately, Irish's vertical ascent stopped short of the freakish levels required for excellence in this position, and so began the descent into mediocrity. A recent change in employment has afforded Irish the luxury of significantly more gym time, and the resultant physical benefits have led to some (not unsuccessful) ventures into the back row.  Whilst he enjoys the freedom this position affords, his spiritual home will always be more akin to his 'hot or not' score, a 4 or a 5.

AKA - "Iro", "Reg", "Stamina" and of course "Irish"

Long and Rambling Bio

The son of an Olympian, and having an older brother in the year above at school, the pursuit of sporting excellence was never far from discussion in the Gray household.  Irish enjoyed mixed sporting success as he journeyed through his school years.  Forays into athletics, football, and hockey initially portrayed an excellent base level of athleticism, but these would all soon give way to revelations in ineptitude.  It was only at 16 (upon the arrival of Creatine onto the general market), when Irish started to put some muscle between the skin and bones which had hitherto constituted 90% of his bodyweight, that things started to improve.

Irish enjoyed three bittersweet years losing matches for his school 1st XV, an honour he shared with fellow Habs Flan and Kaners.  In his senior year, again as captain, Irish guided Bangor Grammar School to their most successful year in a decade - they won more games than they lost.  However, having helped to turn the tide at BGS, it was onward to Durham University where things took a turn for the better.