Canadian-eligible Irishman Ronan Foley played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2025. He represented the Toronto Arrows (2021-2022), the Seattle Seawolves (2023), the Dallas Jackals (2024), and the Miami Sharks (2025).

Born and raised in Ireland to Canadian citizens, Foley attended UCD in Dublin, playing with their rugby club in teh All-Ireland league where he earned Club Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season honours in 2017-2018, and captained the side in 2020-2021. Foley also played in the Leinster system, playing with Leinster A and earning 1 senior cap with the province in 2019. He played in Ireland’s U20 side in the 2017-2018 age grade Six Nations, appearing in 3 games.

The Toronto Arrows announced the signing of Ronan Foley late in the 2021 season, where he earned 4 caps (3 starts) towards the end of the 2021 MLR season. He earned a further 15 caps (13 starts) in his first full season in MLR, scoring 3 tries for the Arrows. Following the 2022 season, the Toronto Arrows traded Foley to the Seattle Seawolves on 29th November 2022 in exchange for 2023 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). Foley suffered an injury with the Seawolves early in the 2023 season which sidelined him for a number of weeks, but proved a valuable player upon his return, stepping into the gap left by an injured Riekert Hattingh and filling it well. Foley started 8 games in 2023 and appeared in 11 in total, scoring 3 tries and completing 128 tackles.

Unfortunately for him, the Seawolves’ back row was overcrowded and on 2nd November 2023, Foley was traded to the Dallas Jackals in exchange for their 2nd Rd Collegiate Draft Pick in 2024, as well as 2024 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). He earned a career high 15 starts in his 15 games for the Jackals in 2024, running for over 600m gained and completing just shy of 150 tackles to help the Jackals qualify for the playoffs for the first time in team history. He scored one of his 2 tries in 2024 in the Jackals’ stunning Western Conference Semifinal victory over the #1 seeded Houston SaberCats. Following the withdrawal of the Dallas Jackals from MLR shortly after the conclusion of the 2024 season, Foley declared for the Dispersal Draft and was selected 14th by the Miami Sharks, who confirmed his signing for 2025 on November 29th, 2024.

Achievements:

• MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 16