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| Date of birth | 5 May 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Dunmanway, Cork, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg (14.6 st; 205 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Bandon Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University College Cork | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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]
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]
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]
Sweetnam was not kept on by La Rochelle, but joined another French club, Pro D2 side Oyonnax, ahead of the 2021–22 season. [18]
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]
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.