Biography
Alastair William "Aly" Muldowney (born 3 August 1983) is an English-born professional rugby union player. He is a versatile forward, being able to play in both the second row and as a flanker.
Muldowney was a late starter in rugby, opting to play basketball and football at a young age instead. His first rugby club was Stourbridge, playing in the National League 1. From there Muldowney was signed by RFU Championship side Moseley. Following his spell at Moseley he was scouted by Scottish club Glasgow Warriors.
Muldowney left Glasgow at the end of the 2010–2011 season. He joined Premiership club Exeter Chiefs. Aly Muldowney played in 17 Premiership games that season, 11 of these appearances coming from the bench, and scored one try as Exeter finished 5th. Muldowney also played in the 2011–12 European Challenge Cup for the Chiefs, starting three games and coming on as a replacement in a further three, including the quarter-final against Stade Français, and scored a try against Cavalieri Prato in the pool stages. In his second season, Muldowney played 18 games in the Premiership, starting in five of them. In the Heineken Cup, Muldowney played in five of the team's pool games, starting in the 30–20 win at home to Scarlets, as the Chiefs finished third and were eliminated from the competition.[4] Muldowney played his final match for Exeter on 4 May 2013 against Gloucester.
In January 2013 it was announced that Muldowney would be joining Pro12 side Connacht on a three-year contract at the end of the 2012–2013 season. Muldowney was primarily used as a substitute in his first season, making 20 league appearances, 11 of them from the bench and was a replacement in both of his Heineken Cup games for the province. Ahead of the 2014–2015 campaign Connacht's captain, second row Craig Clarke, retired which meant Muldowney featured more prominently throughout the season. He played in four of Connacht's five Challenge Cup, including two games against his former team Exeter Chiefs, and played in the quarter-final against Gloucester. Muldowney also made 18 appearances in the 2014–2015 Pro12, and though this was a lower total than the previous season, he started 15 of these games and scored three tries. Muldowney also played the full match and extra time in Connacht's final match of the season, a play-off with Gloucester to enter the following season's Champions Cup. Muldowney's contributions were recognised with a Connacht Player of the Month award for February 2015 and being named by the rest of the squad as the province's "Team Man of the Year." On 31 October 2015 Muldowney made his 50th appearance for Connacht in a 2014–2015 Pro12 game against Edinburgh.
On May 28th 2016 Muldowney made his final appearance for Connacht winning the Pro12 for the clubs first time.
He moved to French club Grenoble at the end of the season.
Muldowney is qualified to play for England, Scotland or Ireland internationally. Born in England, he qualifies for Ireland through his father who was born in Newbridge. Muldowney came close to playing for Scotland A national rugby union team in 2011, which would have exempted him from playing for Ireland or England, but was ruled out of the squad with a shoulder injury.
