Ceri Sweeney (born 21 January 1980 in

Glyncoch Glyncoch is a village to the north of Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is also the name of an electoral ward. History The name Glyncoch is Welsh language for 'Red glen' (''glyn'' "glen, small valley" + ''coch'' "red"). How the name or ...

) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer who plays at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Club career

In 1998, Sweeney joined

from Glyncoch RFC. In 2003, with the introduction of regional rugby in Wales, Sweeney joined the Celtic Warriors. When the club was liquidated in the Summer of 2004 he signed for the

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

. In the summer of 2008, after 4 seasons with the

Sweeney signed for the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

. Sweeney was told upon joining the Blues that he was signed to be used as an outside-half (his preferred position) as opposed to inside centre. This meant that Sweeney would be competing with Nicky Robinson for the number 10 jersey. He scored a try seconds after coming on in the

EDF Energy Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

final against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

on 18 April 2009. Despite several times being linked with moves away from the capital city side, Sweeney remains at his home region. In 2012, ambitious Russian club Krasny Yar moved to make him the first Welsh international to play professionally in the Russian league. The switch was derailed at the last minute by budget issues at Cardiff Blues making it impossible for them to find a satisfactory replacement for the reliable Sweeney. The Russian option remains one Sweeney is keen to explore in future. It was announced on 10 March 2013 that Sweeney would be joining English

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

side

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

. He was announced his retirement in 2016. His total appearances for

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

was 174 games and scored 967 points.

International career

In 2003, Sweeney made his debut for

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. After playing well during the six nations, Sweeney was selected in the Wales squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He was on the bench for the final pool game against New Zealand and came on just after half-time to make a big impact. His hand-off on

Carlos Spencer Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR). During his playing ...

saw him break straight through the defensive line with

Colin Charvis Colin Charvis (born 27 December 1972) is a former captain of the Wales national rugby union team and also played for the British & Irish Lions. A back row forward, Charvis was equally adept as a flanker or as the no. 8. Charvis became the w ...

in support. After passing to Charvis, who passed back to him, he was finally brought down by

Doug Howlett Douglas Charles Howlett (born 21 September 1978) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He was primarily a wing, but he also sometimes played as a fullback. He played for Auckland, and the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Blues ...

just 1m short of the line. The ball was quickly passed out to

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record tr ...

on the left wing who finished the move by scoring a try. Whilst playing against South Africa in 2004, his teammate

Alix Popham Alix Jon Popham (born 17 October 1979) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played as a number eight or flanker. Born in Newport, he began his career with Newport RFC in 1998, before moving to Leeds Tykes in 2002. He spent three years in E ...

was knocked unconscious whilst tackling. Sweeney noticed Popham was unconscious and acted quickly to prevent Popham from swallowing his own tongue. In 2007 Sweeney was selected in the Wales squad for the 2007 World Cup. On April 16, 2014 he was picked in the Barbarians squad to face Clontarf. Being one of the biggest names in the squad.

Personal

Ceri married his wife Helen in a luxurious ceremony in South Wales. They have two children. He also studied electrics at

Coleg Morgannwg Coleg Morgannwg (English: ''Glamorgan College'') is a former further education college located at four main campuses across Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. In 2013, Coleg Morgannwg merged with Ystrad Mynach College to become Coleg y Cymoedd. The col ...

References

External links

Newport Gwent Dragons profile

Wales profile

WRC profile

scrum.com player statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Ceri 1980 births Living people Dragons RFC players Exeter Chiefs players Pontypridd RFC players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales international rugby union players Welsh people of Irish descent Welsh rugby union players