He was educated at Belvedere College in Dublin where he won Schoolboy International caps in both rugby and cricket.
He progressed to a Commerce degree in UCD on a sports scholarship, winning a Colours match in 1999 playing with Brian O'Driscoll.
The flyhalf represented Ireland in the 2001 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Mar Del Plata in Argentina, scoring the tournament's fastest try (7 seconds).
[citation needed] In the same season he went on to score the winning conversion in the 2004 European Challenge Cup vs Aurelien Rougerie's Clermont.
His career did not progress significantly in the following years as expected due to a combination of injuries, club transfers and non-selection.