Darren Cave (born 5 April 1987) is a retired professional Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played

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for

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, sharing the province's appearance record with Andrew Trimble and Rob Herring with 229, and won eleven caps for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Early career

Cave attended Sullivan Upper School, and helped them win the Medallion Shield in 2002, scoring a try, a conversion and the winning penalty in the final. He represented Ireland at schools level, including for a tour of Australia 2004. The same year, he was nominated for the Ulster Schools Player of the Year award. In 2005 he joined

Belfast Harlequins Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' field hockey, hockey, and Squash (sport), squash. The club i ...

represented Ireland at the under-19 World Cup, and joined the Ulster Rugby academy in 2005. He was part of the Ireland under-20 team that won a Grand Slam in the under-20 Six Nations in 2007.

Ulster Rugby

After scoring two hat-tricks in consecutive weeks for

, Cave made his first senior start for Ulster against the

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in October 2007, He became a regular in the side in the 2008–09 season, making 21 starts and scoring seven tries, and was named Ulster Rugby Young Player of the Year. In 2010–11 Cave struggled with injuries but returned towards the end of the season and scored some vital tries as Ulster reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup and semi-finals of the Magners League. Cave showed excellent form on his return to action but picked up another injury in early 2012, just as he looked likely to be included in Ireland's Six Nations squad. He made another magnificent comeback as Ulster made the Heineken Cup final for just the second time in their history, but they lost to

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

in the 2012 Heineken Cup Final, 42-14. In the 2012–13 campaign, Cave was ever-present as Ulster reached the final of the PRO12 and recorded a series of notable firsts including winning in France and beating every Welsh region in Wales. Cave scored five tries the following season and was a stand-out player for the province as Ulster won all six of their Heineken Cup Pool matches and reached the PRO12 Play Off. Cave retired from rugby union at the end of the 2018–19 season, having equalled Andrew Trimble's record of 229 appearance for Ulster, a record that has since been surpassed by Rob Herring.

International career

Cave was included in

's 39-man squad for the 2009 Six Nations Championship, was part of the Ireland 'A' team that won the 2009 Churchill Cup, and won his first two full international caps against

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and the

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in Ireland's 2009 tour of North America. He was selected for Ireland's 2012 tour of New Zealand, making one appearance off the bench,"4 years and 3 caps on, Darren Cave is determined to make next Ireland start count"
The 42, 7 June 2013 and scored an impressive individual try for an Ireland XV side that defeated

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53-0 later the same year. He was selected for Ireland's 2013 tour of the USA and Canada starting both tests and scoring a try against Canada. He started both tests in Ireland's 2014 tour of Argentina, and won his eighth international cap in the 49-7 win against

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in November 2014, having been initially left out of Ireland's squad for the Autumn internationals. He made one appearance in the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

, starting against

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. He retired with eleven caps for Ireland."'I retire as a lifelong Ulster man': Darren Cave announces decision to leave Ulster"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 3 April 2019

References

External links

Ulster ProfilePro14 Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cave, Darren 1987 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Belfast Harlequins rugby union players People educated at Sullivan Upper School Sportspeople from Holywood, County Down Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players Ireland international rugby sevens players Irish rugby sevens players Rugby union centres 2015 Rugby World Cup players