Darren Sweetnam (born 5 May 1993) is an Irish

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 it ...

player for French

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as 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 in ...

club

Oyonnax Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Ha ...

. He plays as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

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 ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and has played underage

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

for Ireland.

Rugby

Munster

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

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster B ...

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. 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 In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

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 the ...

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 the ...

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

Glasgow Warriors 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 became t ...

in Round 2 of the

2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup The 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup was the third European Rugby Champions Cup championship (22nd overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby. The competition replaced the Heineken ...

, 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 ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

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 reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

, 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 ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

. On 4 May 2017, Sweetnam won the 2016–17 Munster Rugby Young Player of the Year award. Sweetnam was named

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 ''Pr ...

opening win against South African side

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

club

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) 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 department. Wi ...

, where former Munster player

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara ( ga, Rónán Ó Gadhra; born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland's second most-capped player and highest ever points scorer. He is currently ...

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,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

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

, 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 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 twelve nations played in the tournament ...

. 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 Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish rugby union former player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a 6 month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland n ...

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. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. A week later, Sweetnam made his first start for Ireland, doing so against Fiji and scoring his first try for Ireland in their 23–20 win.

Hurling

Previously he played hurling 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 Dohenys is a Gaelic Athletic Association club, fielding Gaelic football and Hurling teams in the town of Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland. It won its only Cork Senior Club Football Championship in 1897. Other titles won include 2 Cork Intermed ...

. His choice of professional rugby ends his hurling career for the foreseeable future.

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland Profile
*
Pro14 ProfileU20 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 Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Irish expatriate rugby union players Irish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France