Irish Rugby 2022 – A Year In Photos

A picture is worth a thousand words is a well worn phrase, but in an age of social media, always on news, instagram reels and Tik Tok a photo can still bring you to the heart of a moment in time.

Today we’re looking back at 2022 and featuring some our favourite rugby photos from the year. We asked the team from Inpho to pick their favourites and added a few of our own from the social team in Irish Rugby.

What makes a great rugby photo? We asked Billy Stickland, founder of Inpho,

“The photographer is a story teller. Our job is to record every moment we can and then look for the one image that stands out, that tells you about the player or the match or the moment in the game. It can be a celebration, it can be the agony of defeat or just something in the composition of the photo – the angle, the lighting, the weather – that brings it to life.

“Some of my own favourites from this year include some great moments from the International Mixed Ability Rugby Touurnament, a mini rugby festival in Westport and there’s a lovely shot from the Energia AIL where you can just see the wellies of the daughter of one of the players alongside her mum’s boots. It tells you what club rugby is all about.”

Speaking about the photos, Barry Cunningham, IRFU Digital Manager, commented, “Our job is to use social media to tell the story of rugby – at every level. We’ve been lucky to work with some gifted photographers and camera people who make that easier by creating some wonderful imagery. The players, the match, the people in rugby – they are the story and sometimes you just see something in a photo that will resonate on social media.”