Seamus Oliver Campbell (born 5 March 1954) is an Irish former rugby union player. He played flyhalf for Ireland from 1976 to 1984 and represented the British Lions on two tours. He helped orchestrate Ireland's Triple Crown victory at the 1982 Five Nations Championship, breaking a drought of over 30 years. Writing in the Irish Times in 2004, Gerry Thornley described Campbell as "possibly the most complete Irish outhalf since Jackie Kyle".
Old Belvedere's sports ground on Anglesea Road in Dublin was renamed Ollie Campbell Park in his honour in 2019.
Youth and club rugby
Campbell was educated at Belvedere College, a famous rugby school in Dublin, where he was on the teams that won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup in 1971 and 1972. He toured twice with Ireland, to Australia in 1979 and to South Africa in 1981.
Campbell won his first cap for Ireland at the age of 21 against Australia in 1976 but did not secure another cap with Ireland until 1979. Campbell had to battle for the No.10 jersey with Tony Ward, European player of the year in 1978 and 1979. Campbell's next cap was during Ireland's 1979 tour to Australia. He set an Irish record on the 1979 tour to Australia when he scored 60 points, 19 of them in Brisbane which was an Irish record for points in a match against .
The defining moment in Campbell's career came in 1982, with Campbell as the architect-in-chief of Ireland’s 1982 Triple Crown victory, Ireland's first since 1949. Campbell played his last match for Ireland in 1984 against Wales.
Campbell was also capped seven times for the British Lions. He earned three caps during the 1980 Lions tour to South Africa, where he was the Lions' leading scorer in the last two tests with six and five points. He earned another four caps on the 1983 Lions tour to New Zealand, where he was the Lions' leading scorer in the four test matches with 15 points. He scored 184 points in total for the Lions.
Retirement
Campbell retired from rugby in 1986 following two years of struggles with hamstring injuries.