Darren Sweetnam (born 5 May 1993) is an 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 for French

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

club Oyonnax. He plays as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

but can also play fullback. Sweetnam is also a former inter-county hurler with

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

and has played underage

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

for Ireland.

Rugby

Munster

On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sweetman had signed a deal to join the

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

academy on a three-year contract. He had previously represented the province at Schools, U18, U19 and U20 levels. Sweetnam made his debut for Munster A on 18 January 2013. In January 2015, Sweetnam signed a two-year contract with Munster. Sweetnam made his senior Munster debut on 14 February 2015, coming off the bench in the game against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

. He was nominated for the 2015 John McCarthy Award for Academy Player of the Year Award in April 2015. On 1 October 2016, Sweetnam scored a try and won the Man-of-the-Match award in Munster's 49–5 win against

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

in a

2016–17 Pro12 The 2016–17 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the seventh with a four-country format. It was t ...

fixture. On 22 October 2016, Sweetnam started in Munster's 38–17 win against

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

in Round 2 of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup, a match that was his European debut for the province. Sweetnam was ruled out for 6 weeks with a knee injury sustained in the fixture against

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 ...

on 26 December 2016. On 24 January 2017, it was announced that Sweetnam had signed a contract extension. On 10 February 2017, Sweetnam returned from injury when he started against

Dragons A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depict ...

, playing 55 minutes before being replaced by Francis Saili. On 1 April 2017, Sweetnam scored a try in Munster's 41–16 Champions Cup quarter-final win against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. On 4 May 2017, Sweetnam won the 2016–17 Munster Rugby Young Player of the Year award. Sweetnam was named Man-of-the-Match in Munster's

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the '' ...

opening win against South African side

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

on 1 September 2018, scoring one try in the provinces 38–0 victory. He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in December 2018, but was granted an early release from his contract in March 2021.

La Rochelle

Sweetnam joined French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

club

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

, where former Munster player

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland's third most-capped player and second highest points scorer. He i ...

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. He made his debut for the club in their 38–23 win against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

on 17 April 2021, coming on as a replacement for fullback Brice Dulin in the 60th minute.

Oyonnax

Sweetnam was not kept on by La Rochelle, but joined another French club,

side Oyonnax, ahead of the 2021–22 season.

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 and made his debut as a replacement during the game. He was named in the Ireland Under-20 squad for the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth, IRB Junior World Championship, an annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twe ...

. He scored two tries in Ireland Under-20s 46–3 victory against Fiji Under-20s on 9 June 2013. 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. On 7 November 2016, Sweetnam was added to the senior Ireland squad for the

2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the ''2016 Autumn Internationals'' in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries ...

. Sweetnam earned his second senior international call-up in October 2017, being named in the Ireland squad for the 2017 Autumn Internationals. 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. A week later, Sweetnam made his first start for Ireland, doing so against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and scoring his first try for Ireland in their 23–20 win.

Hurling

Previously he played

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

as a midfielder for the

senior team. 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. At club level Sweetnam played for Dohenys. His choice of professional rugby ends his hurling career for the foreseeable future.

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland Profile
*
Pro14 Profile

U20 Six Nations Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetnam, Darren 1993 births Living people People educated at Bandon Grammar School Dual players Dohenys Gaelic footballers Dohenys hurlers Cork inter-county hurlers Bandon R.F.C. players Dolphin RFC players Cork Constitution players Irish rugby union players Rugby union players from County Cork Munster Rugby players Stade Rochelais players Oyonnax Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Irish expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings 21st-century Irish sportsmen