Colm Tucker was capped three times for Ireland. After winning consecutive Munster senior cups with Shannon in 1977 and ’78, the Irish selectors took note of this fearsome and honest wing forward. In 1977 he had his first taste of international rugby, albeit at B level against Scotland. It took a further two years for Colm to gain his first full cap.
In 1979 he lined out alongside fellow debutante and club colleague, Gerry Mc Loughlin as Ireland drew with France in Lansdowne road. The following year his selection on the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a first for his club. Never before had a Shannon man toured with the Lions. Not alone did he make the squad, but he played in two of the test games. Colm’s last Irish cap came against France in 1980 when he came on as a replacement for John O’ Driscoll of London Irish. The game will be remembered by many as much for a spelling error in the programme as it will for the game itself. Colm’s surname was listed with an F as opposed to a T, and when he took to the field, the French announcer proclaimed that Colm F****r had come in, much to the amusement of the Irish Supporters. After retiring form the game he continued his involvement in rugby and was manager of Munster in 1996 and went on to become president of Shannon in 1999/00.