{{short description|Ireland rugby union international|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{for|the American football player|Nigel Carr (American football)}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Nigel Carr<br> MBE | image = | birth_name = Nigel John Carr | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|7|27|df=yes}} | birth_place = Belfast, Northern Ireland | death_date = | death_place = | height = | weight = | girlfriend = | position = Flanker | amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = Ireland | repteam2 = British Lions | repyears1 = 1985-1987 | repyears2 = 1986 | repcaps1 = 11 | reppoints1 = 0 | ru_ntupdate = | years1 = | clubs1 = Queen's University | clubs2 = Ards RFC | apps1 = | points1 = | ru_clubupdate = | ru_currentclub = | province1 = Ulster | provinceyears1 = | provinceapps1 = | provincepoints1 = | ru_provinceupdate = | repsevensyears1 = | ru_sevensnationalcaps = | ru_sevensnationalpoints = | ru_sevensupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = | school = Regent House Grammar School | university = Queen's University }}
'''Nigel Carr''' MBE (born 27 July 1959) is a former Ireland rugby union international. His career was cut short due to injuries sustained in an IRA bomb explosion. His service as a player, selector, broadcaster, and charity volunteer<ref>Mark Bain, [https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-hero-nigel-carr-gears-up-for-trek-to-help-charity-fight-devastating-disease/38934338.html Rugby hero Nigel Carr gears up for trek to help charity fight devastating disease], ''Belfast Telegraph'', 7 February 2020</ref> was recognised by the 2021 Birthday Honours award of an MBE for his contribution to sport and community relations. This was underscored in 2025 after induction into the Irish Rugby Writers’ Hall of Fame<ref>{{Cite web |title=Irish Rugby {{!}} Beirne And Wafer Named Guinness Rugby Writers Players Of The Year |url=https://www.irishrugby.ie/2025/11/11/beirne-and-wafer-named-guinness-rugby-writers-players-of-the-year/ |access-date=2025-12-10 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-11-14 |title=‘It’s hard to escape my career being cut short by IRA car bomb, but I’m glad focus is on rugby success after Hall of Fame award’ |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/its-hard-to-escape-my-career-being-cut-short-by-ira-car-bomb-but-im-glad-focus-is-on-rugby-success-after-hall-of-fame-award/a957108470.html |access-date=2025-12-10 |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> and the conferral of an [https://www.qub.ac.uk/home/Filestore/honorary-degree-recipients.pdf Honorary Doctorate] from Queen’s University Belfast<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-02 |title=Finnebrogue co-founder, US diplomat, leading playwright and Stena Group CEO receive honorary degrees |url=https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2025/winter-honorary-graduates.html |access-date=2025-12-10 |website=www.qub.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>.
==Early life== '''Nigel John Carr''' was born in Belfast on 27 July 1959. He was a very talented footballer,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nash |first=Dennis S |date=29 June 2006 |title=British Lion a primary star |work=Newtownards Chronicle}}</ref> sought by Glentoran (signed by Larne FC), before focusing on rugby union. He captained the Ulster Under 19 team,<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 April 1978 |title=Ulster Dazzle |work=News Letter}}</ref> subsequently representing Ulster U-23 & Ireland U-23 followed by an Ireland 'B' cap in 1979 plus further 'B' appearances in 1980, 1982 and 1984. He won his first senior cap in 1985.<ref>[http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/where-are-they-now-nigel-carr-belfast-27759-118102.html The Independent, ''Where are they now? Nigel Carr (Belfast 27/7/59)'', Wednesday January 18 2006]</ref>
==Senior rugby career== Carr frequently transformed the teams he joined, bringing previously rare or unforeseen success, often as one half of an extremely effective back-row duo along with Phillip Matthews. They played together at Regent House Grammar School, Queen's University, Ards RFC, Ulster and Ireland from the mid 1970s and into the late 1980s.<ref name="Where">[http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/where-are-they-now-philip-matthews-gloucester-21160-232190.html Where are they now? Philip Matthews (Gloucester 21/1/60), Compiled by David Kelly published Wednesday November 23 2005]</ref>
His influence as captain lead to Regent House reaching the Ulster Schools Cup final for the first time ever in the world's second-oldest rugby competition. In his earliest year at Ards RFC the club were promoted to the senior league as the Ulster Rugby’s Team of the Year for the first time since their foundation in 1928. Queen's "seasons in the doldrums"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Edward |date=7 October 1979 |title=Queen's have that certain feeling |work=Sunday News}}</ref> immediately changed to Ulster Senior League winners with Ulster Senior Cup success the following season (the "ubiquitous" Carr being the game's "Player of the Season"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Edward |date=3 May 1981 |title=Season Sewn Up |work=Sunday News}}</ref> while also representing Irish<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stevenson |first=Mike |date=25 February 1982 |title=Irish are the masters |work=Daily Telegraph}}</ref> and British Universities<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 April 1984 |title=Nearly new Carr |work=Daily Express}}</ref> with Queen's as "Team of the Season".)
Carr's two-year absence from the Ulster team ended weeks after a third knee operation, when he was widely praised for an "immense contribution"<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 November 1984 |title=Historic Ulster Victory |work=The Irish News}}</ref> and "playing magnificently<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Esbeck |first=Edmund |title=The Story of Irish Rugby |publisher=Stanley Paul |isbn=0-09-166270-2 |pages=195}}</ref>" in the defeat of the 1984 Grand Slam Australian team. This marked the beginning of Ulster's decade of dominance as "one of the best provincial teams in Irish rugby history".<ref>Garry Doyle, [https://www.the42.ie/ulster-rugby-5-5581757-Oct2021/ "A shining light in our darkest decade - so why is one of Ireland's greatest sides undervalued?"], The 42.ie, 23 October 2021</ref>
Carr made a winning senior international debut against Scotland at Murrayfield on 2 February 1985 (Ireland having lost all their games in the preceding 1984 Five Nations Championship season). He was a critical part of the undefeated (for the first time since 1951) Triple Crown and Championship winning side of 1985, his performances "having a profound influence on Ireland's success<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Esbeck |first=Edmund |title=The Story of Irish Rugby |publisher=Stanley Paul |year=1986 |isbn=0-09-166270-2 |pages=196}}</ref>". Ireland did not enjoy another undefeated Championship until 2009. He was injured on the subsequent 1985 Japan tour, with a first comeback game (for Ards 5th XV) in January 1986 ahead of an international return v Wales on 15 Feb 1986. Despite his country's 5 Nations Championship defeats, Carr was the clear choice for the 1986 Lions as openside flanker, even though the English and Scottish contenders (Winterbottom and Calder) are by expert opinion<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cleary |first=Mick |date=22 April 2020 |title=Mick Cleary's greatest England XV of the past 50 years – the back row and half-backs |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2020/04/22/mick-clearys-greatest-england-xv-past-50-years-back-row-half/ |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> and popular choice,<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 November 2020 |title=Scotland's greatest rugby union team: Who made your best XV? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54854527 |work=BBC}}</ref> those countries greatest ever in that position and the Welsh challenger, who captained his country (Pickering)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woolford |first=Anthony |date=23 January 2015 |title=The 15 best Welsh openside flankers in history: Who is Wales' most magnificent seven? |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/15-best-welsh-openside-flankers-8502677 |work=WalesOnLine}}</ref> judged one of their greatest. Although Carr never toured with the Lions, he was considered the pick of the Lions pack when playing for them against a powerful Rest of the World team (which included 6 World Rugby Hall of Fame opponents) in a one-off Test match in Cardiff (16 April 1986).
He won his 12th and final cap in 1987 against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park.<ref>[http://www.scrum.com/statsguru/rugby/player/9840.html?class=1;template=results;type=player;view=match Statsguru / Player analysis / Nigel Carr / Test matches]</ref> Carr, the Rugby World & Post Feb 1987's No.1 openside flanker, missed out on the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup because he was forced to prematurely end his career through injuries due to an IRA car-bomb.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scally |first=John |title=Together Standing Tall 150 Years of Irish Rugby |date=2024 |publisher=Gill Books |isbn=978-18045-80547 |pages=173–176}}</ref> On 25 April 1987, Carr, David Irwin and Philip Rainey<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/its-a-different-world-since-it-all-began-in-1987-26767940.html |title=It's a different world since it all began in 1987 - Independent.ie |publisher=Archive.wikiwix.com |date= 4 September 2011|accessdate=2022-09-28 |archive-date=14 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20220214223121/https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/its-a-different-world-since-it-all-began-in-1987-26767940.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> had set off for a training session in Dublin before the World Cup. On that day the IRA had targeted Lord Justice Sir Maurice Gibson - Northern Ireland's second most senior judge - who was travelling back from holiday with his wife, Lady Cecily Gibson, when a 500 lb land mine was detonated at Killean, on the border, killing them both. The three Ireland internationals were on the same stretch of road when the bomb exploded and although miraculously, they all escaped serious injury, the explosion ended Carr's rugby career at just 27.<ref>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/historic-clash-small-step-to-shared-future-13416404.html Belfast Telegraph, ''Historic clash small step to shared future'']</ref> This incident is widely accepted (even beyond Ireland]) as the critical impetus to the creation of “Ireland's Call” as a new and additional/alternative sporting anthem, subsequently adopted beyond rugby by other sports.
Carr has been described as one of the best players to have pulled on the Irish jersey, also playing for the Barbarians. Willie Anderson explained this as "Nigel Carr was a professional player in an amateur era. His dedication to ensuring he was in peak condition to play rugby football was second to none".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Ivan |title=Ireland's Rugby Giants |publisher=Appletree Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84758-046-7 |pages=17}}</ref> Anderson added "not only had he tremendous speed, but he had anticipated where it (the ball) would be long before others realised it was there. I know the guys in the professional games these days are super-fit. But I can tell you Nigel was fitter than any of them."
Carr was selected on the Greatest Ever Ulster Team<ref>[https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ulsters-greatest-xv-takes-centre-stage/28242876.html "Ulster's greatest XV takes centre stage"], ''Belfast Telegraph'', 20 January 2005</ref> and was the openside flanker choice of such rugby authorities as Jack Kyle<ref>Gavin Mairs, [https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/kyle-selects-his-ulster-dream-xv/28210265.html "Kyle selects his Ulster dream XV"], ''Belfast Telegraph'', 16 September 2004</ref> and Syd Millar<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mairs |first=Gavin |date=2004 |title=Carr holds an open door to Millar's XV |work=Belfast Telegraph}}</ref> (the former named the Greatest Ever Irish Rugby Player, the latter cited as Greatest Coach, by the Irish Rugby Football Union in 2002<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 May 2002 |title=Kyle named as Greatest Ever Irish Rugby Player |url=http://www.irishrugby.ie/6855_1608.php |work=IrishRugby.ie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030073237/http://www.irishrugby.ie/6855_1608.php |archive-date=30 October 2007 }}</ref>).
Despite Carr's achievements and associated accolades, his unfulfilled potential is almost as striking. Lions captain, Colin Deans believed that "Carr's pace and athleticism would have been a handful in South Africa"<ref>[https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/features/25599/brendan-gallagher-talks-to-colin-deans-30-years-on-from-his-big-lions-let-down/ "Brendan Gallagher talks to Colin Deans 30 years on from his big Lions let-down"], The Rugby Paper, 15 April 2016</ref> had the 1986 Lions tour not been abandoned due to Apartheid. Likewise, his world ranking as the No.1 openside flanker<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 1987 |title=World Cup Top Team |work=Rugby World & Post}}</ref> leading up to the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup, could have assured Ireland at least a semi-final berth, were it not for his injury in a fatal explosion with the consequential "massive detrimental effect on the whole team"<ref>Declan Bogue, [https://www.the42.ie/willie-anderson-ireland-rugby-1987-world-cup-6162696-Sep2023/ "'We were left to our own devices coming into the first game - it was a bit like Delaney's Donkey'"], The 42.ie, 9 September 2023</ref> — an achievement that eluded the team both then and for over three decades since.
After retiring as a player, Carr served as a selector for Ulster.<ref>Jim Stokes, "Bloomfield backs Euro challenge", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 1 September 1995</ref>
==Career and personal life== [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-carr-bsc-phd-mbe-dl-424a2316/?originalSubdomain=uk Dr Nigel Carr] previously managed innovation, research & technology support from Invest NI in Belfast and also produced and presented a UTV sports programme, ''Sport on Sunday''.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{British and Irish Lions 1986}} {{Ireland Squad 1987 World Cup}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Nigel}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Rugby union players from Belfast Category:Irish rugby union players Category:British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Category:Rugby union flankers Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Category:Ireland international rugby union players Category:Car bomb victims Category:People educated at Regent House Grammar School Category:Ulster Rugby players Category:Ulster Rugby non-playing staff Category:Queen's University RFC players Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Survivors of terrorist attacks