Michael Rice (born 27 January 1984) is an Irish hurling selector and hurler who plays for Kilkenny Intermediate Championship club Carrickshock.
After much success at underage levels, including several minor and under-21 championships, Rice quickly joined the Carrickshock senior team.
[1] He later won a Leinster intermediate winners' medal as Carrickshock defeated St Patrick's of Wexford by 2–16 to 0–7 in the inaugural provincial decider.
In spite of this he won a second successive Leinster Championship medal, albeit as a non-playing substitute, on 14 July 2004 following Kilkenny's 1–16 to 2–03 defeat of Wexford in the final.
[10] On 20 July 2005, Rice won a third successive Leinster Championship medal after being reinstated to the starting fifteen for Kilkenny's 0–17 to 1–10 defeat of Dublin in the final.
[14] On 13 February 2006, Rice made his competitive debut for Kilkenny when he came on as a 53rd-minute substitute for Michael Fennelly and scored three points in a 1–26 to 1-13 National League defeat of Laois.
[15] On 2 July 2006, Rice started the Leinster final at left wing-forward and ended the game with a second successive winners' medal after a 1–23 to 2–12 defeat of Wexford.
[16] The All-Ireland final on 3 September 2006 saw Rice drop to the substitutes' bench once again, however, he ended the game with a winners' medal after a 1–16 to 1–13 defeat of Cork.
[18] On 1 July 2007, he won a third successive Leinster Championship medal after coming on as a substitute for Eoin Reid in Kilkenny's 2–24 to 1–12 defeat of Wexford in the final.
He won a fourth successive Leinster Championship medal on 6 July 2008 after coming on as a substitute for Richie Mullally in Kilkenny's 5–21 to 0–17 defeat of Wexford in the final.
[22] Rice won his third National League medal - his first on the field of play - on 3 May 2009 when he lined out at midfield in Kilkenny's 2–26 to 4-17 extra-time defeat of Tipperary in the final.
[26] On 4 July 2010, Rice won a sixth successive Leinster Championship medal after scoring two points from midfield in Kilkenny's 1–19 to 1–12 defeat of Galway in the final.
[29] On 3 July 2011, he won a seventh consecutive Leinster Championship medal after scoring his only career goal in Kilkenny's 4–17 to 1–15 defeat of Dublin in the final.
He won a ninth Leinster Championship medal on 5 July 2015 as a member of the extended panel following Kilkenny's 1–25 to 2–15 defeat of Galway in the final.
[46] After a two-year hiatus and a period of uncertainty surrounding the competition, the Railway Cup returned in 2012 with Leinster facing Connacht in the decider once again.