Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan: Ireland’s versatile forward with a point to prove

Eight years down the line, Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan can now laugh about her first training session with Ulster. The Dubliner, who played GAA at underage level for her county, certainly made an impression.

Tuite-O’Sullivan, who represented Ireland at shot-put, had previously played with Ireland’s Under-18s Sevens team – alongside Stacey Flood – and at Trinity University. Some unfortunate scheduling ended up going in her favour. “Truth be told,” she admitted, “I missed the Leinster trials because I was away on holidays. I thought I was going to be back on time and I wasn’t.

“I was playing for Old Belvedere and was still on the wing, at that stage. Kathryn Dane actually said to me, ‘We’re short a couple of backs up in Ulster, will you come up and play for us?’ And I said, why not? Eric was playing up there at the time already. I felt I would eventually follow him up. It just worked out that way and I’ve been with them ever since.”

“I’ll never forget the first Ulster session,” she added. “I went up in a Gaelic jersey, a Dublin one. Really, really stupid of me! They had no idea who I was. I have never, and I’m not joking, been tackled as hard in my life. I’d say they were like, ‘Who is this one coming up from Dublin?’

“Not many had moved provinces at that stage. Now, people are moving all the time, it’s fine, but not many had moved and, genuinely, my ribs hurt so bad for about two weeks afterwards. It was so bad. That’s how I ended up there. I’ve been there ever since, live up there, got a job at the hospital. My life is up there now, so that’s our new home.”

The Eric mentioned is Ulster prop, Eric O’Sullivan, who Fiona married at Markree Castle during the summer, taking her surname to double barrel proportions. Asked about the wedding, Tuite-O’Sullivan says, “I’ll be honest, pulling it all together was very, very difficult, but all worth it. We genuinely had the best day ever, so, anyone who’s planning the wedding, it is all worth it. All the stress, all the money, everything that goes with it.”

The couple, who go all the way back to being Debs dates [debutante ball], have been living together, in Belfast, since 2020. Tuite-O’Sullivan worked as a medical physiotherapist at Ulster Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, with her sporting goals bumped down the list of priorities. Eric made his Test debut for Ireland during the pandemic, in December 2020.

His wife’s debut would follow in 2023, at the age of 26. In the space of three short years, however, she has racked up 28 senior appearances, and was part of Ireland’s Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 squad that reached the quarter finals. Since he took over as Ireland Women’s head coach, Scott Bemand has heavily relied on Tuite-O’Sullivan.

Following the wedding in County Sligo, there was time for a short honeymoon before the couple went back to Ulster and, for Fiona, Ireland. Before she embarked on international duty, Tuite-O’Sullivan lined out for Ulster in the Interprovincial Championship, and was overjoyed to beat Connacht, in Galway, on the final weekend of that campaign.

“That was my first ever win for Ulster,” she explained. “I think I’m playing for them eight years, and my first ever win. I didn’t get to play, when did they win, two or three years ago. It was incredible. Genuinely, everyone was in floods of tears. It was class, but I was delighted. It just meant so much to everyone.”

“We’ve been building for a long time in Ulster,” she added. “We’ve a lot of girls coming through, and then we don’t always retain everyone. It is hard. The coaching group we had in this year was really, really good, and some of the younger girls that are coming through are good leaders. There’s a few that will, no doubt, be in camp and in with Ireland soon.”

Up at Ulster, men’s players Reuben Crothers [recently retired, due to injury], James Hume have all been involved, in coaching capacities, with the women’s team. Eric O’Sullivan was scrum coach, in previous seasons. On Crothers and Hume, Tuite-O’Sullivan says, “They just have that modern take on it – things that only players would get, little nuances that they would know, that if you’re just coaching you mightn’t necessarily see. They were brilliant and brought a bit of craic, as well.”

Tuite-O’Sullivan has played most of her Test career in the second row, including Ireland’s most recent matches against USA and Japan. For the First Test against South Africa, the 29-year-old switches to blindside. Ireland captain Erin King, who starts at openside, is delighted to welcome Tuite-O’Sullivan to the back row.

“Fiona is brilliant,” King said from Ireland’s team hotel in Cape Town. “She’s actually my vice-captain, so we work really tightly together, and she’s always there to have my back. I definitely delegate a lot of the work to her. She’s also a phenomenal player. She has been going great in the second row, and it’s now great to have her in the back row. She brings a little bit more size, which is what we probably need against the South Africans.

“Fiona is dynamic in attack, solid in defence and makes loads of big, hard tackles. It’s not going to be easy to get them down. South Africa have a great No.8, Aseza Hele, who likes to pick and go, off the sides of scrums and rucks. It will be great to have Fiona for company. She brings a bit of a calm head and she’s a great lineout caller, as well. I’m really excited to play alongside her in the back-row.”

Dorothy Wall knows all about playing lock and flanker, and has no doubt Tuite-O’Sullivan will rise to the gambit. “I would argue second row is way more of a challenge than back-row,” she contested, with a smile. “But that’s just me.

“We very much play with an ethos of being back five, so it is quite interchangeable. Fiona is very athletic, very fast, so those edge opportunities will really suit her. But I do think a lot of us in the back five see that job description very similarly. We just are a bit more dead after scrum time, in the second row.”

That Irish back row of Tuite-O’Sullivan, King and Brittany Hogan is a dynamic offering. Bemand will be hoping the trio can step it up to offset the loss of the injured Aoife Wafer. King is eager to meet the challenge. “We’ve definitely spoken about the history of getting to play in Cape Town and getting to play in South Africa. Rugby is everything for them. They eat and breathe rugby, and there’s so much history there.

“Not many teams have come to South Africa and won two Test games against them, back to back. I don’t think any Irish team ever has, so there is history in that. We’d love to come over and win them two Test games and create a bit of history. There’s a lot of excitement building. We know it’s going to be a big test. We’re playing in Athlone Stadium, which is in the third biggest township in Cape Town, so they’re going to have a huge backing, and it should be an atmosphere like no other.”

When this series wraps, it is back to clubs and, for some in the squad, studies and day jobs. Beyond that, into 2027, there is a Guinness Women’s Six Nations championship Tuite-O’Sullivan and her Irish teammates are gunning for. When Ireland beat Scotland in front of 31,294 at Aviva Stadium, back in May, Wafer and Tuite-O’Sullivan were already campaigning for a return. They got their wish, as Ireland host England at the Lansdowne Road venue on Saturday 8 May 2027.

“I did an interview with RTÉ, after that game,” Tuite-O’Sullivan recalled, “and said that game sets standard for us now. We don’t drop below that. It’s not going to be possible every single game, I understand, to fill that ground, but the amount of work that went into that was class… that sets the bar. Our goal is to only go up and up from that. The goal is, yeah, let’s sell out the Aviva. Let’s do it.”