Eric Elwood

Eric Elwood is a former Irish rugby union player from Galway. He played as a fly-half. He played for Ireland internationally, and provincially for Connacht. He was on the Coláiste Iognáid team that won the Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup in 1985. He split his club career between hometown club Galwegians and Lansdowne in Dublin, starting and finishing his career in Galway, with a stint playing with Lansdowne in the 1990s. Elwood earned 35 caps for Ireland, scoring 296 points for the side. He played 168 games for Connacht scoring 1,152 points. He was the first Connacht player to make 100 appearances for the side, while his points tally remained a record until being surpassed by Jack Carty in 2023. Elwood also made a single appearance for international invitational side the Barbarians before being capped by Ireland.

After retiring from playing, Elwood went into coaching. He served as assistant coach for Connacht and then as coach of the Ireland under-20 side, where he won a Grand Slam in 2007. In 2010, he became head coach of Connacht and led the team to the Heineken Cup for the first time. He held this position until his decision to resign at the end of the 2012–13 season. He has since taken a variety of roles within the provincial set up, taking the role of Domestic Rugby Manager in 2015. Elwood returned to first team coaching in 2016 when he became kicking coach. In 2017, he moved roles again when he was appointed head of the Connacht Academy.