HugoKeenan

Hugo Keenan is doing a fine job of completing a sporting bucket list as he adds a British & Irish Lions Tour to an Olympics appearance.

The 28-year-old, who represented Ireland’s rugby sevens side at Paris 2024, returned to the 15-a-side game for the 2024/25 season and has earned selection for his first Tour.

The full-back has helped his country to two Six Nations victories, including a Grand Slam in 2023, and is now widely regarded as one of the best attacking full-backs in the game.

Keenan was born in Dublin and attended the famous Blackrock College, where he was a member of the 2014 side that won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup.

He made his Leinster debut in 2016 against Zebre at 20 years old and scored his first try against Dragons in 2018.

Since then, Keenan helped the province to four consecutive league titles between 2017-18 and 2020-21 and he remains one of Andy Farrell's most trusted Irish lieutenants, at one point enjoying a run of 33 starts in 36 matches.

Farrell has described the full-back as a ‘world-class’ operator who would ‘be a boost for any side in world rugby’ and Keenan featured in four of his side’s five 2025 Six Nations matches, crossing for a try against Italy.

Paul O’Connell, Ireland’s forward coach, is fully aware of the value Keenan adds to the national side and said: "He's an excellent player, and there's so much in full-back in covering the backfield defensively, and he has a lot of work to do in attack.

"There is a lot of IP there that we might miss if he wasn't playing. He also plays a big leadership role for us. He's a very smart guy and a problem solver within the group, he's highly regarded."