Sammy Arnold (born 8 April 1996) is an English

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 English club

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. He plays as a centre.

Early life

Born in

Redhill, Surrey Redhill () is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead within the county of Surrey, England. The town, which adjoins the town of Reigate to the west, is due south of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon in ...

, Arnold moved to Kent aged five and attended a state school until sixth form, when he earned a rugby scholarship at Cranleigh School. Harlequins had shown interest in Arnold joining their academy, but as a scrum-half rather than a centre.

Club career

Ulster

Arnold made his debut 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 ...

at Rodney Parade in March 2015 as an 18-year-old. At the end of the season he won the Club's Academy Player of the Year award. He made his first Champions Cup appearance against Oyonnax in January 2016, but was forced off through injury after 23 minutes.

Munster

On 4 February 2016, it was announced that Arnold would be joining Ulster's provincial rivals,

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. Just weeks after joining Munster, Arnold damaged ligaments in his knee, which ruled him out of the opening period of the 2016–17 season. On 26 November 2016, Arnold made his competitive debut for Munster, starting alongside Jaco Taute in the 2016–17 Pro12 fixture against Benetton at Thomond Park. In January 2017, Arnold was ruled out for 8 weeks with a knee injury. On 27 February 2017, Arnold resumed full training following his recovering from the knee injury. On 31 March 2017, Arnold started for Munster A in their 2016–17 British and Irish Cup semi-final against Ealing Trailfinders, scoring a try in the 25–9 win against the English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side at CIT. On 21 April 2017, Arnold started at 13 for Munster A in their 29–28 victory over English RFU Championship side

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds was a rugby union club based in Jersey, Channel Islands. On 28th September 2023, the club ceased trading and shortly thereafter went into liquidation following the withdrawal of financial support from a key investor. Until seaso ...

in the final of the 2016–17 British and Irish Cup, which was held in Irish Independent Park. He scored his first tries for Munster on 3 November 2017, doing so in the 2017–18 Pro14 win against Welsh side

. Arnold made his European Rugby Champions Cup debut for Munster on 9 December 2017, starting in the Pool 4 fixture against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

in Thomond Park and earning the Man-of-the-Match award in the provinces' 33–10 win. He was sent-off for a

high tackle A high tackle is an illegal Tackle (football move), tackling move in rugby football. A high tackle occurs when a player tackles or attempts to tackle an opponent whereby their arm makes contact with the ball carrier’s chest. The move is dangerous ...

on Christian Lealiifano in Munster's Pro14 game against

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 ...

on 1 January 2018 and subsequently banned for 3 weeks. He signed a new two-year contract with Munster in February 2018. Arnold was named the ''Munster Rugby Young Player of the Year'' in April 2018.

Connacht

Arnold joined

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

on a two-year contract in July 2020, and made his debut for the province against his old club Munster on 30 August 2020.

Brive

Arnold moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to join Brive, where former

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 ...

and British & Irish Lions player Jeremy Davidson is head coach, on a three-year contract from the 2022–23 season.

Newcastle Falcons

On 19 July 2024, Arnold returns to the UK as he signs for English side

in the

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

on a two-year deal from the 2024-25 season. On 29 November 2024, despite a yellow card in the closing stages of the game he helped his side to their first win over Saracens since 2009.

International career

After achieving selection at under-18 level in May 2013, Arnold received his first call up for the Ireland under-20 side in February 2015 for a 2015 Six Nations Under 20s Championship clash with

. Arnold earned his first senior call-up in October 2018, being selected in Joe Schmidt's 42-man

squad for the 2018 Autumn Internationals. Arnold made his senior international debut for

in their 2018 Autumn Test against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on 24 November 2018, coming on as a replacement for Will Addison at half-time in Ireland's 57–14 win.

Honours

Munster A

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009� ...

: **Winner (1): 2016–17

References

External links

Connacht ProfileMunster ProfileIreland ProfilePro14 Profile
*
U20 Six Nations Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Sammy 1996 births Living people People educated at Cranleigh School Rugby union players from Redhill, Surrey Irish rugby union players Irish Exiles rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Munster Rugby players Garryowen Football Club players Connacht Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players CA Brive players Irish expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union centres