Donal Spring

{{Infobox rugby biography

| name = Donal Spring

| image =

| caption =

| full_name = Donal Eugene Spring

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|08|23|df=y}}

| birth_place = Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 6 ft 5 in

| weight =

| occupation =

| school =

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| relatives =

| position = Lock / No. 8

| repyears1 = 1978–81

| repteam1 = {{nrut|Ireland}}

| repcaps1 = 7

| reppoints1 = 0

}}

Donal Eugene Spring (born 23 August 1956) is an Irish solicitor and former rugby union international.{{cite news |title=Last Hurrah for the Lost Leader |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002321/19880306/128/0013 |work=Sunday Tribune |date=6 March 1988}}

Born in Tralee, County Kerry, Spring is the youngest son of Labour Party politician Dan Spring, who was a footballer in his youth for Kerry GAA. One of his elder brothers, Dick Spring, was capped three times for Ireland as a fullback and became a long serving Labour Party leader. All three brothers attended Cistercian College, Roscrea.{{cite news |last1=Nolan |first1=Pat |title=Ten GAA families who have produced some of Ireland's greatest ever sports stars |url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/gaa-parents-whose-children-excelled-23617175 |work=Irish Mirror |date=6 March 2021 |language=en}}

Spring, a forward, appeared 16 times for Munster and was the number eight when in 1978 they became the first Irish team to defeat the All Blacks.{{cite news |last1=English |first1=Alan |title=Munster’s 1978 heroes on living with the physical toll of rugby |url=https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/sport/345204/munster-s-1978-heroes-living-with-with-the-physical-toll-of-rugby.html |work=Limerick Leader |date=1 November 2018 |language=en}} As both a lock and number eight, he was capped seven times for Ireland from 1979 to 1981, largely while with Dublin University. He was a club captain of Lansdowne, where he played in three Leinster Senior Cup and four Leinster Senior League wins, across two stints. In between, he played club rugby in France for Bagnérais.{{cite news |title=Spring time in France |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001715/19900303/208/0019 |work=Irish Independent |date=3 March 1990}}

Qualified as a solicitor since 1982, Spring is the Principal of Dublin firm Daniel Spring & Co. Solicitors.{{cite news |last1=Thornley |first1=Gerry |title=History Makers: Munster's men who beat the All Blacks 12-0 on October 31st, 1978 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/history-makers-munster-s-men-who-beat-the-all-blacks-12-0-on-october-31st-1978-1.207175 |work=The Irish Times |date=24 October 1998 |language=en}} Spring is also a racehorse owner and breeder - in 2023 he won the Flying Five Stakes with his horse Moss Tucker, named after his Munster team-mates Moss Keane and Colm Tucker.{{cite web |last1=O'Connor |first1=Brian |title=Moss Tucker springs a surprise at the Curragh as two rugby greats remembered in victory |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/racing/2023/09/10/moss-tucker-springs-a-surprise-at-the-curragh-as-two-rugby-greats-remembered-in-victory/ |publisher=Irish Times |access-date=30 October 2023 |date=10 September 2023}}