Tommy Bowe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Tommy Bowe

Bowe playing for Ospreys
Birth name	Thomas John Bowe
Date of birth	(1984-02-22) 22 February 1984 (age 41)
Place of birth	Emyvale, Monaghan, Ireland
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	98 kg (15 st 6 lb; 216 lb)
School	Royal School, Armagh
University	University of Ulster University of London
Notable relative(s)	Hannah Bowe (sister)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing, Centre Youth Career Monaghan RFC Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) – Belfast Harlequins () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2003–2008 Ulster 91 (170) 2008–2012 Ospreys 77 (185) 2012–2018 Ulster 77 (140) Correct as of 28 April 2018 National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2004–2005 Ireland U21 () 2005–2008 Ireland A 4 (5) 2004–2017 Ireland 69 (150) 2009, 2013 British & Irish Lions 5 (0) Correct as of 10 March 2017

Tommy Bowe (born February 22, 1984) is a famous Irish television host and a former rugby union player. He comes from County Monaghan, Ireland. Tommy played as a wing for top teams like Ulster, Ospreys, the Irish national team, and the British & Irish Lions.

After he stopped playing rugby, Bowe started a career in television. He is now a host on the morning TV show Ireland AM.

Tommy Bowe's Rugby Journey

Starting Out in Rugby

Tommy Bowe went to The Royal School, Armagh. When he was in school, he played as a full-back. He only started playing as a wing when he joined the Ireland Under-21 team. Besides rugby, Tommy also ran for the Glaslough Harriers club. He even represented his local area, Donagh, in the All-Ireland Community Games.

Before rugby, Bowe played Gaelic football from a young age with his local club, Emyvale. He also played for Monaghan at the Under-16 and Minor levels. He played rugby with Monaghan RFC when he was younger and for his primary school team.

He studied at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown. While there, he played for the Queen's University Belfast rugby team. He was chosen for the Ireland Under-20 Team. Later, he moved to play for Belfast Harlequins. He then played for the Ireland Under-21 team and was named the Irish Rugby Union Players Association (IRUPA) Young Player of the Year in 2003.

Playing for Clubs

James Hook, Gavin Henson and Tommy Bowe playing for Ospreys

Tommy Bowe joined the Ulster team at the end of the 2003–04 season. He scored a try in his very first game against Connacht. Soon, he became a regular player for Ulster. In May 2004, he was named the IRUPA Young Player of the Year. He also won the Guinness Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year Award in May 2005. In 2006, Bowe helped Ulster win their first Celtic League title.

On January 25, 2008, Tommy announced he would leave Ulster. He joined the Ospreys in Wales on a two-year contract. In his first season with Ospreys, he set a club record by scoring four European Cup tries in one match against Treviso. He also became the top try-scorer in the Magners League's history. In 2008, he won both the Ulster and Ireland Player of the Year awards. In December 2009, Bowe signed a new three-year deal with the Ospreys.

He returned to Ulster at the start of the 2012/13 season. He signed a three-year contract. He scored two tries in his first game back for Ulster against Cardiff Blues. He was a key player in Ulster's league season, helping them reach the Pro12 Final.

Playing for Ireland

Bowe played his first senior international game for Ireland against the USA in 2004. He was the first player from County Monaghan to play for Ireland since the 1920s. He scored a try in the second half of that game. Bowe played more games for Ireland during their tour to Japan and in the Autumn Internationals in 2005.

After gaining experience and playing well for Ulster, he was chosen for Ireland's 22-man team for the 2006 Six Nations opener against Italy. He scored a try in that game. After a difficult first half against France in the next game, Bowe was left out of the squad.

He had some injuries in late 2006, which affected his performance. But he came back strong, scoring five tries in six matches. This earned him a spot in Ireland's 2007 Six Nations squad. However, he did not make the Irish team for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Bowe earned a place in Ireland's 2008 Six Nations squad after a great season with Ulster.

He was not chosen for the first game against Italy. He was also left out when Ireland lost to France. However, on February 19, 2008, Bowe was named to start against Scotland at Croke Park. He scored two tries in that match. He then played in the games against Wales and England, which Ireland lost.

Bowe continued his good form with the Ospreys in 2008. He kept his right-wing position for Ireland during the Autumn internationals. He scored Ireland's only try against Argentina. Bowe was then selected for the wing in the 2009 Six Nations opener against France in Dublin. Bowe played very well as Ireland won 30–21, their first win over France in six years. Their next game was against Italy. Bowe scored a try as Ireland won 38–9.

After wins against England and Scotland, Ireland played Wales. A Grand Slam was on the line. Bowe scored a try, and Ireland won their first Grand Slam in 61 years.

In February 2010, against England in the 2010 Six Nations Championship, he scored two tries. One of these was the winning try with five minutes left in a 20–16 victory at Twickenham. In March 2010, Bowe was voted the 2010 Six Nations Player of the Championship. He received over 50% of the votes.

Bowe continued to play for Ireland throughout 2010. He was chosen for Ireland's squad for the 2011 Six Nations Championship. He scored the first try in Ireland's big win over England on March 19. He went to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which was his first World Cup. He scored a try against the USA in Ireland's first Pool C game. He was selected for the 2012 Six Nations Championship squad. During this tournament, he scored five tries in Ireland's first three games, including two against Italy and two against France.

On February 4, 2017, Bowe came on as a substitute for Keith Earls in the 2017 Six Nations Championship game against Scotland.

Playing for the British & Irish Lions

On April 21, 2009, Bowe was chosen to be part of the British & Irish Lions team for their 2009 tour to South Africa. He started in the first match of the tour against a Royal XV team. In this game, he became the first try scorer of the 2009 tour. He then scored two tries against the Golden Lions. This helped him get selected for the main test team. He missed the next two games but returned for the match against Western Province. There, he scored his fourth try of the tour and helped Ugo Monye score another.

His performance on the tour was excellent, earning him praise from sports reporters. On June 18, 2009, Ian McGeechan picked Bowe for the test team to play South Africa in Durban on June 20. The Lions lost that game 26–21. Bowe played well in defense but did not get many chances to run with the ball. He was again chosen for the wing in the second test. The Lions lost 28–25 because of a last-minute penalty by Morné Steyn, which gave the Springboks the series win. In this game, Bowe had more chances to run and was dangerous when attacking. Because Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Roberts were injured, Bowe was chosen to play at outside centre with Riki Flutey. He finished third for the Player of the Series award, behind Wales' Jamie Roberts and England's Simon Shaw.

In April 2013, he was selected for the 2013 British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia. While playing against the Queensland Reds, Bowe broke a bone in his hand. This injury almost ended his Lions tour. However, he recovered in time to be in the starting team for the last two tests against Australia. He took the place of Alex Cuthbert, who had played while Bowe was injured. Bowe did not score any points in the test series.

International Tries

Tommy Bowe's International Tries
Try	Opposing Team	City/Country	Venue	Competition	Year
[1]	United States	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Test Match	2004
[2]	Japan	Osaka, Japan	Nagai Stadium	Test Match	2005
[3]	Italy	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Six Nations	2006
[4–5]	Scotland	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Croke Park	Six Nations	2008
[6–7]	Canada	Limerick, Republic of Ireland	Thomond Park	Test Match	2008
[8]	Argentina	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Croke Park	Test Match	2008
[9]	Italy	Rome, Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Six Nations	2009
[10]	Wales	Cardiff, Wales	Millennium Stadium	Six Nations	2009
[11]	Australia	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Croke Park	Test Match	2009
[12–13]	England	London, England	Twickenham	Six Nations	2010
[14]	Scotland	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Croke Park	Six Nations	2010
[15]	New Zealand	New Plymouth, New Zealand	Yarrow Stadium	Test Match	2010
[16]	South Africa	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Test Match	2010
[17]	England	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Six Nations	2011
[18–19]	United States	New Plymouth, New Zealand	Yarrow Stadium	World Cup	2011
[20]	Wales	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Six Nations	2012
[21–22]	Italy	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Six Nations	2012
[23–24]	France	Saint Denis, France	Stade de France	Six Nations	2012
[25–26]	Argentina	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Test Match	2012
[27]	South Africa	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Test Match	2014
[28]	Australia	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Aviva Stadium	Test Match	2014
[29–30]	Romania	London, England	Wembley Stadium	World Cup	2015

Awards and Achievements

Individual Awards

• IRUPA Young Player of the Year: 1 (2004)
• Guinness Ulster Rugby Personality of the Year Award: 1 (2005)
• Celtic League Team of the Year: 3 (2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10)
• IRUPA Players' Player of the Year: 2 (2008, 2010)
• WRPA Players' Player of the Year Award: 1 (2010)
• Celtic League Player of the Year: 1 (2009–10)
• RBS Player of the Championship: 1 (2010)
• Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year: 1 (2010)

Team Honours

With Ulster

• Celtic League: 1 (2005–06)

With Ospreys

• Celtic League: 2 (2009–10, 2011–12)

With Ireland

• Six Nations: 2 (2009, 2015)
• Grand Slam: 1 (2009)
• Triple Crown: 2 (2006, 2009)
• 2005 Ireland rugby union tour of Japan Series win 1

With British & Irish Lions

• Series winner: 1 (2013)

Life Outside Rugby

In 2010, Tommy Bowe was a guest chef on an episode of The Restaurant. He also appeared on RTÉ's The Late Late Show in May 2010. On the show, he talked about his singing of "The Black Velvet Band" during Ireland's Grand Slam celebrations. RTÉ also made a documentary called Tommy Bowe's Bodycheck. This show explored what it takes to be a top professional rugby player.

In 2014, Bowe started a clothing line called XV Kings. This came after he launched his footwear brand, Lloyd & Pryce. He also lent his name to the Tommy Bowe Challenge. This event raised money for the Glaslough Harriers in 2011 and 2012.

In 2017, Bowe started working in television presenting. He became a co-presenter on the BBC and RTE holiday program, Getaways. Then, in 2018, Bowe was named the presenter for Eir Sport's coverage of the Pro14 rugby league. This started in August 2018.

Since August 2020, Tommy Bowe has been a host on Ireland AM. This is a popular morning television show on Virgin Media Television in Ireland.

Family Life

Tommy's father, Paul, won a Leinster Schools' Cup medal in 1970. He played for Newbridge College. Tommy's mother, Ann, is a physiotherapist in County Monaghan. Tommy's sister, Hannah, plays international hockey for Ireland. His younger brother, David, also plays rugby union. The Bowe siblings' grandfather received the Military Cross for his service in the British Army during the D-Day Normandy Landings in World War II.

Tommy Bowe married his fiancée, Lucy Whitehouse, on June 14, 2015. Lucy was a former Miss Wales. Their wedding took place at the Corran Resort and Spa in Carmarthenshire, Wales. They have two children together.

See also

In Spanish: Tommy Bowe para niños