Eoin Griffin

Eoin Griffin (Irish name: Eoghan Ó Griofa; born 18 September 1990) is a former professional rugby union player from Ireland. He primarily played as a centre, and played both outside and inside channels. Griffin last played for Connacht in the Pro14.

Griffin came through Connacht's academy and played for the senior side from 2009 to 2014, before moving to London Irish. After two seasons with the exiles, he returned to Connacht ahead of the 2016–17 season. Griffin has represented his country at under-age level and was part of the Ireland under-20 team which captured the 2009 Under-20 Six Nations.

Early life Griffin was raised in Barna, County Galway. During his youth, he also played soccer with Salthill Devon and Gaelic football with Salthill-Knocknacarra, before settling on rugby, which he played with Corinthians. His first taste of sporting success came when Corinthians team achieved an Under 14 League/Cup double, which former playerJohnny O'Connor had also achieved when he played for the club. Griffin later won u15 cup while he won the u16 and u17 league with Corinthians during a successful period with the club.

Griffin was educated at Coláiste Iognáid, where he lost the Connacht Schools Junior Cup to Garbally College after having to overcome the Bish in the semi-final. Shortly after this defeat, the young Griffin suffered the first setback of his rapidly progressing career, tearing his cruciate ligament. Overcoming this he went on to become a two-time winner of the Connacht Schools Senior Cup.

He has studied at NUI Galway.

Professional club career Connacht Griffin first played professionally for the Irish provincial team Connacht, based in his hometown of Galway and was first called into the squad against Olympus Madrid. Griffin scored a try on his first competitive start for the province in their defeat to the Llanelli Scarlets on 25 April 2010. He played seven times in 2010–11 Celtic League, scoring one try, Connacht played in the Heineken Cup for the first time in the 2011–12 competition, with Griffin playing in three of the province's six games. He started in the away match with Harlequins, the home match with Toulouse and the away match against Gloucester. Connacht featured in the top European competition again that season, with Griffin playing four times in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. In the 2013–14 season, he played 19 times in the league and four times in the Heineken Cup. it was announced in February 2014 that Griffin had signed for English Premiership side London Irish and would leave at the end of the season. He made a total of 71 appearances in his first spell with Connacht. He made his first appearance on 19 October 2014 when he started against Italian side Rovigo Delta in the 2014–15 Challenge Cup, and scored a try on his debut as Irish won 70–14. He made his Premiership debut on 15 November 2014 against Sale Sharks. Griffin made a total of 12 Premiership appearances and five Challenge Cup appearances in his first season. He also started in all four of London Irish's games in the 2014–15 Anglo-Welsh Cup.

In his second season, Griffin struggled for game time due to injury. He appeared in three games in the 2015–16 Premiership, Griffin left the club at the conclusion of his contract, having played 24 times for the side in his two seasons.

Return to Connacht It was announced in December 2015 that Griffin had agreed to rejoin Connacht on a two-year deal ahead of the 2016–17 season. He made his return debut in the opening game of the season against Glasgow Warriors. He made just seven appearances in his first season back with the team, all of them coming in the league. In the summer of 2013 Griffin was a member of the Emerging Ireland squad that participated in the 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup held in Georgia. He played in three games, starting two of them.