Ian Madigan Biography
Ian Madigan was born on 21 March 1989. He is an Irish professional rugby union player for Bristol. His primary position is at fly-half, although he can also play at centre and full-back. He lived on an Aboriginal mission in Forster before moving to Sydney with his family. He was once hit in the neck with a samurai sword by his cousin Beau at a family reunion in 2010. His father is Nigerian and his mother is Aboriginal. He has a younger brother named Isaac. He has played alongside Josh Mansour as a member of the Penrith Panthers.
He is son to Michael Madigan, father and Maria Madigan his mother. He is also brother to David Madigan and Louise Madigan.
Ian Madigan Career
Madigan made his senior debut for Leinster in a Celtic League match versus Newport Gwent Dragons in May 2009. He went on to make 18 appearances for Leinster during the season. Madigan broke through to the Heineken Cup squad and came on as a replacement in Leinster’s cup final victory against Northampton Saints. The following season he became a regular first XV player and scored five tries in ten matches. He made a superb substitute appearance in the 2012 Heineken Cup final in Twickenham, with his long looping pass to Sean O’Brien enabling him to put Sean Cronin in for the final try.
With the departure of Jonathan Sexton to Racing Métro at the start of the 2013-14 season, Madigan was vying with New Zealander Jimmy Gopperth, who joined the province from Newcastle Falcons, for the role of first choice fly-half. Throughout that season the selectors adopted a system of alternation between the two players, with neither individual being considered to have nailed down the number ten jersey.
On 21 March 2014, Madigan made his 100th appearance for Leinster in a league match against Italian side Zebre. The following weekend when Leinster took on Munster, he kicked five penalties and one conversion in a 22-18 win. He scored a winning try in the 2013-14 Pro 12 Semi-Final against Ulster at the RDS Arena. He came on in the 9th minute of the Grand Final for Brian O’Driscoll. Madigan was impressive in the match as Leinster dominated the second half of the match and won it 34-12.
Leinster reached the semi-final of the inaugural European Rugby Champions Cup, being defeated by Toulon 25-20 in extra-time. With seconds remaining in the first half of extra time, Madigan attempted a huge pass which was read and intercepted by Springbok Bryan Habana, who sprinted 50 metres to score a try which effectively put the game beyond Leinster’s reach. This loss, coupled with Leinster’s failure to get to the play-off stage of the Pro 12 league, ended a woeful season for the Dublin-based province and the effective sacking of head coach Matt O’Connor.
During the 2014-15 season, Madigan started primarily at inside centre, with Gopperth playing at 10. With the departure of Gopperth for Wasps at the end of the season, he again resumed his role as deputy to Jonny Sexton, who returned after two seasons at Racing Metro. In advance of Sexton’s return home to his native province, Madigan stated his desire to play alongside Sexton at inside centre for the coming season.
Madigan made his last appearance in Leinster colours on May 28, 2016, with defeat to Connacht in the 2015-16 Pro 12 final. In December 2015, it was announced that Madigan would be leaving Leinster at the end of the season to join French Top 14 club Bordeaux Bègles. He made his Top 14 debut for Bordeaux against Racing 92 on 20 August 2016. On 6 March 2017, Madigan signed a three-year contract with English club Bristol Rugby ahead of the 2017-18 season. He scored 232 points on his debut season in the RFU Championship, finishing as the leagues top points scorer and helping his club clinch promotion to the Premiership as champions.
International career
After injury to Jonathan Sexton during the 2013 Six Nations campaign, Madigan was drafted into the Ireland squad as cover at outside half. He made two substitute appearances, against France and Italy. Madigan was included in Ireland’s squad for the summer tour of North America in June 2013, where he started both Tests against the US Eagles in Houston and Canada in Toronto.
In the November end of year internationals, he made a further three substitute appearances against Samoa, Australia, and New Zealand; a dramatic encounter in which Ireland were denied an historic first-ever win over the All Blacks in the final minute of the Test match. Madigan was included in the national squad for the 2014 Six Nations, making a 68th-minute substitute appearance in the final match of the campaign against France. Ireland won the game 22-20, securing their first championship title since 2009, and only their second win in Paris in 42 years.
In June 2014, Ireland toured Argentina, playing a two-test series against the Pumas. Madigan made substitute appearances in both matches, scoring a try and a conversion in the second Test in Tucumán to seal victory. Ireland won the series 2-0, and in doing so secured their first ever Test series win in Argentina. He was included in the national squad for the 2014 Autumn internationals series, making a start at fly-half for the Test against Georgia, and two substitute appearances against South Africa and Australia. Ireland won all three Tests, securing their first Autumn series clean-sweep since 2006.
Madigan was involved in the entire 2015 Six Nations, making substitute appearances in all five Tests. Ireland retained their title from the previous year, their 13th triumph in the competition. This was the first time that Ireland had retained their title outright since 1949, having shared the 1983 championship with France after winning in 1982. He celebrated his 26th birthday on the 21st of March, the same day Ireland were crowned northern hemisphere champions.
Madigan appeared in all five of Ireland’s 2015 Rugby World Cup games, making a memorable substitute performance in the final pool game against France, when he came on as a replacement for Jonathan Sexton in the 26th minute, and steered Ireland to victory. After Sexton failed to recover from his groin strain in time, Madigan started at 10 the following week in the quarter final meeting against Argentina. Ireland lost the game 43-20, and bowed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage for the sixth time.
In May 2016, a 32-man squad was named for a three-Test tour to South Africa in June. Madigan was initially omitted from the travelling squad, the first time he was left out of a national squad since his international debut. His imminent departure to play club rugby in France was cited as a reason for his omission, with the selectors opting instead to select players who remain in Ireland. However, in a turn of fortune, Madigan was included in a revised touring squad on June 2, after Jonathan Sexton suffered a shoulder injury, ruling him out of contention for the tour.
Madigan came off the bench in all three Tests against the Springboks, with Paddy Jackson getting the nod as the starting number ten. Ireland lost the series 2-1, but claimed a historic first win over South Africa on home soil in the first Test in Cape Town.
Ian Madigan During A Match
Ian Madigan Age
Ian Madigan was born on 21 march 1989. He is 29 years old as of 2018.
Ian Madigan Girlfriend
Anna Kirwan is Ian Madigan’s girlfriend. Anna is an author of books.
Ian Madigan Awards
Leinster
- European Rugby Champions Cup winners (2): 2010–11, 2011–12
- European Rugby Challenge Cup winners: 2012–13
- Pro12 champions: 2012–13, 2013–14
- Pro12 Golden Boot winner (2): 2013, 2015
Bristol
- RFU Championship champions: 2017–18
- RFU Championship top points scorer: 2017–18 (232 points)
Ian Madigan Hair
The big breaking news from Cardiff is that Ian Madigan has been for a haircut. The reactions vary from “What if it was the source of all his power?” to “It’s business time.” This is how you know things are getting serious.
Ian Madigan Boots
‘Proud to be Irish’ – Ian Madigan’s reason for wearing 1916 branded boots will have you bursting with pride
It is a long time since the 60 pairs of boots on the Lansdowne Road turf were all black and we’ve long-since become accustomed to the variety of colours that professional players don before taking to the pitch.
But it seems you can still make a statement with your footwear as Ian Madigan proved when he wore a pair of lime-green boots with ‘1916’ inscribed on the side for Leinster’s win over Ospreys last month – a game that finished 19-16 to his side with the out-half kicking the winning penalty.
The 27-year-old has revealed his reasons for paying tribute to those who died 100 years ago, explaining that his great-grandfather Dr John Barrett treated the wounded during the fighting on the streets of Dublin.
Tonight, the Leinster out-half will resume his role as back-up to Johnny Sexton, waiting patiently for his moment to make a mark on Leinster’s crucial Guinness Pro12 meeting with Munster at the Aviva Stadium, hoping to soak up the acclaim of the 40,000-plus fans who have made their way to Ballsbridge, but last Sunday he was in the stands for a very different national occasion as he attended the official commemorations on O’Connell Street.
Most professional players avoid public statements that might raise their heads above the parapet and Madigan is acutely aware that, as an Ireland international, he represents all traditions north and south when he dons the green jersey, but when the personal connection to the events 100 years ago was revealed by his mother, Maria, he felt that it was important to mark the occasion.
“It was just to signify a big part of our history. A small part of my family were a part of it, my great grandfather was a doctor on the first day of the Rising and was treating people,” he reveals.
“It’s a massive part of our history and it was just to mark that. It wasn’t one-sided and we’re in a privileged position as sports people, we’re in the public eye and when we saw everything over the Easter weekend, around the centenary and the turn-outs that the events got, we saw how much it means to people.
“It was just nice to be in a position to be able to have a small mark of respect for that.
“There’s not a huge amount outside of that, it’s just that he was involved in it on the day as a medic. It was nice, when my mum told me about it, to mark it myself.
“I know that when I’m playing for Ireland I’m not representing the Republic, but it wasn’t anything like that; it’s marking the day and that was what was behind it.
“I was in at the parade on Sunday, there was a good buzz around town; a great turn-out. Enda McNulty and Dave Kearney were there, it was great to be part of it.
“It was something that we really got right as a country, we managed to mark it in a really classy way and it just made people proud to be Irish, really, which is great.
“It’s probably not something Irish people would have said, maybe 50 years ago, that they were really proud to be Irish; but I think we’ve come such a long way, it’s such a great country.
“When you’re over in the States or in England, you see the St George’s flag everywhere, you see the American flag everywhere; I think it was nice over the last few weeks to see the tricolour everywhere. We’re a very proud country and we should be proud of what we represent.”
Not many people get the chance to put their patriotism into practice, but Madigan has represented his country 29 times.
For the 27-year-old, it’s important to remember what he represents and where he has come from and he has enlisted the help of his grandfather, Larry Brassill, to help with that process last summer.
“Before going to the World Cup, I asked my granddad to do an audio on what makes him proud to be Irish and I used to listen to that before games,” he explains.
“It had some of my own personal history in it of my journey and what it took me to get into the Irish jersey, including my Gaelic football days, my days in Blackrock, some of the setbacks I had or my passage through the Academy…
“He included greater parts of history in it, the great musicians we’ve had, the likes of the Dubliners, Sinead O’Connor, U2 all the way through to the great engineers and great scientists who’ve won Nobel prizes like Ernest Walton… so it is something I would draw upon.
“I remember listening to it on the bus to games, it would fill me up with pride and it’s one of those one-per-centres that makes you put your body on the line even more.”
That is all part of the hard work Madigan puts into his preparation, but he can’t be too methodical given his role so often means that he is usually kept in the glass box marked ’emergency’.
At the World Cup, he produced arguably his best Ireland performance when introduced early against France, but a week later he was told he was starting 24 hours before the quarter-final against Argentina and his lack of preparation time was highlighted by Joe Schmidt as a contributing factor to defeat.
Although ostensibly back-up to Sexton today, he knows he could be asked to do one of any number of jobs across the Leinster backline and has to be ready to perform. Last season, he was a late call-up at full-back against Munster, while he replaced Brian O’Driscoll at centre when the legend bowed out early in the 2014 Pro12 final.
Next year, when he moves to Bordeaux, he hopes to prosper as the main man, but for the moment he must be ready.
“In ways, starting games is easier because it’s a definite starting point, you know what’s coming,” he admits.
“Whereas, when you’re on the bench you can be on after five, 10 minutes; there’s games when you’re not brought on at all, which is obviously a massive anti-climax because you’ve spent the whole week preparing your mind and your body for 80 minutes of battle and hard work and then you don’t get on and that process just starts again.
“It’s a tough part of the game, you’re starting back on Monday or Tuesday with a big muscle breakdown sessions, pushing yourself really hard. So, it’s not like you’ve the same freshness and just save it up for the following week, it’s more of a negative, because you’re losing your match focus and having your eye in.
“During the week, I would be going through different scenarios of coming into the game; what plays I’d be looking to do if I was on in the first half or what plays would be left to me if I was coming on late in the game.
“I do this thing called mind-gym, where I visualise myself in the game. I might lie down and for maybe 15 minutes and visualise different scenarios, whether you’re behind or ahead on the scoreboard and how you’re going to react in those situations.
“Quite often they’re close to what you predicted. It’s almost like deja vu when you’re calling plays and you’ve got confidence that you’re calling the right plays because you’ve visualised what you want to happen.
“I remember the first time I was on the bench and you’re told you’re coming on, the nerves hit you like a wave. Now, when I’m told I’m coming on I’m much more focused on what my first action is going to be and building my way into the game.
“As a younger player, you’re thinking, ‘I have to make an impact’ and there’s more of a chance that you’ll force a play and it maybe not going well; you end up chasing the game then.”
Madigan admits there is a frustrating element to the coverage he receives as a replacement.
“If you’re only on for a short period of time, you’re judged on maybe only a handful of actions and if you get one of those wrong then you’re going to be judged quite critically on that,” he explains.
“Whereas if one of those five actions were over 80 minutes, it gets blended into a performance and the view on your performance will be much more general.
“The flip-side of that is when you come on for 10 minutes and everything goes well for you, then you’re seen as the superstar. Likewise, if that’s lengthened into a big performance it gets put in with other average stuff. It can be quite fickle.”
At most, Madigan has six games left with Leinster before he bids farewell and heads for his fresh start in Bordeaux.
Behind the scenes, his mother is arranging the move while also keeping him on point with his French lessons, but his focus is on leaving Leinster on a high point even if he is not getting sentimental about his farewell just yet.
“I don’t really have: ‘Oh, this is my last time playing in the Sportsground, this is my last game against Munster in the Aviva’,” he says. “For me, when I’m pulling on the green jersey for Ireland or the blue of Leinster I’d always treat it as my last game. My preparation is no different in the sense that I’m just going out there to do the best I can for the club and I’m not going to start going down the route of this being my last of last or anything like that.
“This is probably a must-win for us and for Munster, so yeah it’s about peaking for this time of the season. It’s something we got right two seasons ago and fell short of last year.
“These games are certainly as big as they always were. Munster beat us home and away last year, we beat them down in Thomond Park this year; it’s a game you’re going into that’s 50-50 and the team that turns up on the day with the best desire will have a very good chance of winning.
“The attendance will indicate to you that it’s still a very big picture. There’s going to be more than 40,000 people there and Munster have possibly turned the corner.
“They were very good last week. They’ve got some seriously good internationals coming into their squad. Tommy O’Donnell is hitting form, Zeebs (Simon Zebo) is playing great stuff and has massive confidence – every time he gets the ball he’s looking to do something.
“They’re rock solid with (Conor) Murray at No 9, so if we’re not on our game they’ll get the better of us. It’s certainly a game when we know we’re going into a serious battle.”
Under cover of darkness, Life Style Sports, official retail partner to Leinster Rugby, utilised bespoke 3D body mapping and live light projection technology to bring the city’s most-loved statues to life as glowing champions for the team. Life Style Sports is calling on all Leinster Rugby fans to get behind the team by wearing blue in their pursuit of Pro12 Glory. The Leinster home jersey is available from all Life Style Sports shops priced from €60 for adults and €45 for kids.
Ian Madigan Leinster
Ian Madigan open to future Leinster return – and doesn’t rule out playing for another province
Former Leinster and Ireland fly-half Ian Madigan says playing for his province again in his career would be a ‘perfect scenario’. Madigan won two European Cups with Leinster and was capped for Ireland 30 times before moving to French side Bordeaux Begles in 2016. In 2017, he signed a three-year contract with English club Bristol, who currently hold a 13-point lead at the top of the Championship and look set to secure promotion back to the Premiership next season. Speaking on The Left Wing podcast with Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery, the out-half said it would be great to pull on the Leinster jersey again but is firmly focusing on Bristol at the moment.
“It was dream come true stuff, playing with your best friends for the team you supported growing up,” Madigan said.
Madigan also refused to rule out playing his rugby elsewhere in Ireland at some stage, should the opportunity arise.
“Ideally to get back and play for Leinster again would be a perfect scenario, but I wouldn’t shut off going and playing for any of the other provinces.
“For me at the moment my focus is very much with Bristol. I have another two a half years to run on that contract so that’s where my focus is at currently, but you know I wouldn’t rule it out.”
On whether he regretted leaving the Leinster and Ireland set-up, Madigan says he doesn’t look back on his decision with any regrets.
“It moves on very quickly,” he said.
“You kind of have it in your head, it will be different without me, but the reality is Leinster and Ireland, they’re machines, and they just move on.
“There’s plenty of other sob stories out there, and mine certainly isn’t one,” Madigan said.
Ian Madigan Twitter
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Ian Madigan Injury
Ian Madigan facing spell on the sidelines with groin injury
Ian Madigan’s impressive start to his Bordeaux Begles career has suffered a setback with confirmation that he’ll miss four weeks due to a groin injury. The Ireland out-half suffered tendonitis in his groin during the Top 14 defeat to Castres over the weekend and has been ruled out for at least a month. Madigan has enjoyed a solid start to life in France but will now miss games against Stade Francais, Grenoble and La Rochelle. UBB currently sit sixth in the Top 14.
Ian Madigan Ireland
Exclusive interview: Ian Madigan on why he was envious of Johnny Sexton and the suffocation of playing in Ireland
Fly-half Ian Madigan has said that watching Leinster left him ‘numb’ following his departure from the province in 2016.
Madigan was speaking to Eoin and Ger on OTB AM, saying that he feels ‘happiness’ watching the Ireland and Leinster teams succeeding, but that this wasn’t always the case.
“It was tough initially, when you are first away from the Leinster team and the Ireland team. You’re looking in and you are just used to being a part of that. You are just watching it and feeling a bit numb, I suppose.
“You are certainly not cheering the other team on or anything like that. But then as time goes on… I’m still a big Leinster supporter – I grew up supporting the team – and, obviously, I’m still passionate about Ireland.
“So I watch the games, cheer the guys on, text the lads before the games wishing them luck. It’s great to see Ireland and Leinster getting the success they did this year – it was well-deserved.
Even though Madigan recently signed a new long-term deal with Bristol, he cannot rule out returning to Irish shores to improve his chances of a return to Joe Schmidt’s national setup.
“Ultimately, that’s over to me. I need to be playing really, really well for [the provinces] to be looking at me going ‘We need that guy on our team’.
“I’ve had a long road over the last three years that has been pretty frustrating to me. I had a year after the World Cup where Johnny was back at Leinster, and I was mainly sitting on the bench. Then I went to France, and the majority of that year was pretty frustrating – particularly once I’d announced mid-season that I was going to be moving on. I was very much pushed to the side then, and then a year in the championship as well.
“I have been sitting on that for the past three years, and I’m now in a situation where I’ve got a great coach in a really good team. It’s just about taking that opportunity and playing as best as you can.”