Education
Originally from Thurles in Tipperary, Cooney first played rugby for the local club Thurles Reconstruction Finance Corporation and attended the Thurles Christian Brothers School.
Originally from Thurles in Tipperary, Cooney first played rugby for the local club Thurles Reconstruction Finance Corporation and attended the Thurles Christian Brothers School.
His primary position is as a prop, and he can play on either side of the scrum. Cooney currently plays for Irish provincial side Connacht Rugby in the Pro 12. He joined Connacht in 2012 from All-Ireland League club Garryowen.
Amateur career
He received his third level education in the University of Limerick.
At under-age level, Cooney was involved with the academy of his native province of Munster and played for provincial teams at under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels. Connacht
Cooney joined Connacht for the 2012-2013 season.
In his first season with the team, he played in 4 2012-2013 Pro 12 games, coming on as a replacement in each game. In February 2013, Cooney extended his contract with the province to keep him there until 2015.
In the following season Cooney played a similar amount of games.
He made four replacement appearances in the 2013-2014 Pro12, coming on away to Leinster in the RDS, home and away against Glasgow Warriors and away to Zebre in Italy. In the 2013-2014 Heineken Cup, Cooney made three appearances, with these also coming from the bench. He featured against Saracens, Zebre and Toulouse.