As a Clanwilliam clubman he captained an Irish Youth (U18) side that included Barry Everitt and Tom Tierney against Scotland in 1993. Three years later he joined the Munster set up and won his 100th Munster cap against Cardiff at the Arms Park in March 2005. By the end of last season he had been capped 176 times by Munster - 27 times by his country - and on foot of his form with Munster, at the age of 34, he was selected to travel with the Lions to South Africa. However an incident in the Heineken Cup semi-final against Leinster resulted in suspension for Quinlan and he missed the Lions trip.