Darren_Sweetnam

Darren Sweetnam

Darren Sweetnam

Irish rugby union player

Darren Sweetnam (born 5 May 1993) is an Irish rugby union player for French Pro D2 club Oyonnax. He plays as a wing but can also play fullback. Sweetnam is also a former inter-county hurler with Cork and has played underage hockey for Ireland.[1]

Quick Facts Date of birth, Place of birth ...

Rugby

Munster

On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sweetman had signed a deal to join the Munster Rugby academy on a three-year contract.[2] He had previously represented the province at Schools, U18, U19 and U20 levels. Sweetnam made his debut for Munster A on 18 January 2013.[3]

In January 2015, Sweetnam signed a two-year contract with Munster.[4] Sweetnam made his senior Munster debut on 14 February 2015, coming off the bench in the game against Cardiff Blues.[5] He was nominated for the 2015 John McCarthy Award for Academy Player of the Year Award in April 2015.[6]

On 1 October 2016, Sweetnam scored a try and won the Man-of-the-Match award in Munster's 49–5 win against Zebre in a 2016–17 Pro12 fixture.[7] On 22 October 2016, Sweetnam started in Munster's 38–17 win against Glasgow Warriors in Round 2 of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup, a match that was his European debut for the province.[8] Sweetnam was ruled out for 6 weeks with a knee injury sustained in the fixture against Leinster on 26 December 2016.[9]

On 24 January 2017, it was announced that Sweetnam had signed a contract extension.[10] On 10 February 2017, Sweetnam returned from injury when he started against Dragons, playing 55 minutes before being replaced by Francis Saili.[11] On 1 April 2017, Sweetnam scored a try in Munster's 41–16 Champions Cup quarter-final win against Toulouse.[12] On 4 May 2017, Sweetnam won the 2016–17 Munster Rugby Young Player of the Year award.[13]

Sweetnam was named Man-of-the-Match in Munster's 2018–19 Pro14 opening win against South African side Cheetahs on 1 September 2018, scoring one try in the provinces 38–0 victory.[14] He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in December 2018,[15] but was granted an early release from his contract in March 2021.[16]

La Rochelle

Sweetnam joined French Top 14 club La Rochelle, where former Munster player Ronan O'Gara is head coach, as a medical joker on a three-month deal to provide backs cover after an injury to Jérémy Sinzelle in March 2021.[16] He made his debut for the club in their 38–23 win against Lyon on 17 April 2021, coming on as a replacement for fullback Brice Dulin in the 60th minute.[17]

Oyonnax

Sweetnam was not kept on by La Rochelle, but joined another French club, Pro D2 side Oyonnax, ahead of the 2021–22 season.[18]

Ireland

Sweetnam was named in the Ireland Under-20 team for their 2013 Under-20 Six Nations Championship opener against Wales on 1 February 2013[19] and made his debut as a replacement during the game.[20] He was named in the Ireland Under-20 squad for the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship.[21] He scored two tries in Ireland Under-20s 46–3 victory against Fiji Under-20s on 9 June 2013.[22] Sweetnam started for Ireland Under-20s in their 5th–6th place play-off against hosts France Under-20s on 18 June 2013, a game which the French team won 9–8.[23]

On 7 November 2016, Sweetnam was added to the senior Ireland squad for the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals.[24] Sweetnam earned his second senior international call-up in October 2017, being named in the Ireland squad for the 2017 Autumn Internationals.[25] He made his debut for Ireland on 11 November 2017, coming on as a replacement for Rob Kearney in the 38–3 win against South Africa.[26] A week later, Sweetnam made his first start for Ireland, doing so against Fiji and scoring his first try for Ireland in their 23–20 win.[27]

Hurling

Previously he played hurling as a midfielder for the Cork senior team.[28] Sweetnam made his first appearance for the team during the 2012 Waterford Crystal Cup and was subsequently included in Cork's league and championship teams.[29] At club level Sweetnam played for Dohenys. His choice of professional rugby ends his hurling career for the foreseeable future.

References

  1. [1]
    "Sweetnam opts for Munster over Cork hurlers". Irish Examiner. 1 October 2012.
  2. [2]
    "Sweetnam Joins Academy". Munster Rugby. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  3. [3]
    "Quarter-final in Store For Munster A". Munster Rugby. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  4. [4]
    "Players Commit To Munster". Munster Rugby. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  5. [5]
    "Opening Win At Irish Independent Park". Munster Rugby. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  6. [6]
    "Nominations In For Munster Rugby Awards". Munster Rugby. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  7. [7]
    "Try Fest In Thomond". Munster Rugby. 1 October 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. [8]
    "Munster Do Foley Proud With Immense Display". Munster Rugby. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  9. [9]
    "Squad Update". Munster Rugby. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  10. [10]
    "Munster Confirm Latest Signings". Munster Rugby. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  11. [11]
    "Munster Down Dragons To Stay Top". Munster Rugby. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  12. [12]
    "Munster Back In Champions Cup Semi Finals". Munster Rugby. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  13. [13]
    "Bleyendaal Is Named Munster Player Of The Year". Munster Rugby. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  14. [14]
    "Match Report | Winning Start at Thomond Park". Munster Rugby. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  15. [15]
    "12 Munster Players Sign Contract Extensions". Munster Rugby. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  16. [16]
    "La Rochelle Move For Sweetnam". Munster Rugby. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  17. [17]
    "Sweetnam makes debut in another La Rochelle victory". Irish Examiner. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  18. [18]
    "Sweetnam on the move to Oyonnax". Irish Examiner. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  19. [19]
    "Ireland Under-20 Team To Play Wales". Irish Rugby. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  20. [20]
    "Ireland Under-20s Lose By Narrow Margin". Irish Rugby. 1 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  21. [21]
    "Ireland Under-20 Squad Named For Junior World Championship". Irish Rugby. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  22. [22]
    "Ireland Under-20s Run Six Tries Past Fiji". Irish Rugby. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  23. [23]
    "Ireland Under-20s Edged Out By Hosts France". Irish Rugby. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  24. [24]
    "Six Players Added To Ireland Squad". Irish Rugby. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  25. [25]
    "Four Uncapped Players Included In Ireland's GUINNESS Series Squad". Irish Rugby. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  26. [26]
    "Late Flurry Fires Ireland To Record-Breaking Win Over Springboks". Irish Rugby. 12 November 2017. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  27. [27]
    "Keatley Kicks Ireland Home In Bruising Battle With Fiji". Munster Rugby. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  28. [28]
    "Player profile: Darren Sweetnam". Cork GAA. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  29. [29]
    "Cork and Tipp changes". Irish Examiner. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
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