Darren Dawidiuk (born 21 September 1987 in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

) 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, currently playing for

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

outfit

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

. He plays as a hooker. Dawidiuk joined the

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates ( kw, An Vorladron Gernewek) are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn ...

as an Academy player in 2006 having played his youth rugby at

Truro RFC Truro RFC is a Cornish rugby union club that is based in the city of Truro and was formed in 1885. The club's colours are blue and yellow and they operate 2 senior men's teams, a women's team, a colts side and various mini/junior teams (ages 7� ...

, joining the city club at the age of 12, and making progress through the juniors and colts before he made a 1st team debut as a blind-side flanker in a league match against St. Ives. Dawidiuk became a member of the South West of England Rugby Academy (SWERA) based at

, and he also gained selection to the England Colleges team in 2005. He played for England Colleges again in 2006, and also captained the Truro College team that beat

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, also known as SGS College, is a college of further education and higher education based in South Gloucestershire and Stroud, England. It was established in February 2012 following the merger of Filton Co ...

in the final of the British Colleges Cup competition played at

Castlecroft Castlecroft is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, located on the edge of the city, WSW of the city centre. It is situated where the Merry Hill, and Tettenhall Wightwick wards meet, and also borders South Staffordshire. History The name ...

. He made four appearances for the Cornish Pirates in his first season, and followed this with 14 in 2007–08 and 27 total appearances in 2008–2009. He also had a loan period at Redruth RFC during which time he appeared in the first team. Dawidiuk was signed to

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

in the

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 ...

, starting from September 2009. After 8 seasons with Gloucester, on 25 July 2017, Dawidiuk left Kingsholm as he signed for rivals

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

, returned to the Aviva Premiership from the 2017–18 season. On 10 May 2018, it was announced Dawidiuk had been signed by Coventry, in preparation for their return to the Championship, following promotion from

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

. It was announced on 27 February 2019, that Dawidiuk had agreed to join

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

on loan until the conclusion of the 2018/19 seaso

In November 2020 it was announced that he was currently on a short-term trial at Premiership Rugby side

References

External links

Gloucester Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawidiuk, Darren 1987 births Living people Bristol Bears players British people of Ukrainian descent Cornish rugby union players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Truro