Sweetnam Settles In To Senior Ranks

18th February 2016 By Munster Rugby

Solid in defence and elusive in attack, winger Darren Sweetnam has made quite the impression in his first two competitive starts for Munster. The West Cork native chats about his progression through the Greencore Muster Rugby Academy and making the step up to the senior ranks.

Quite the accomplished sportsperson across a number of pursuits, the young Dunmanway man played senior League and Championship hurling for Cork (pictured right) as well as hockey for Ireland at U16 level while concurrently honing his rugby skills.

Commencing his rugby career with Dunmanway RFC, the Bandon Grammar graduate represented Munster U18 Schools, U19s and U20s, and Ireland U20s, on his way to joining the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy at the start of the 2012/13 season.

In comparing the player he is now to the player he was then, Sweetnam is appreciative of three hugely beneficial years in the academy system that ultimately saw him begin a two-year senior contract at the beginning of this season.

“I came in straight from school and was raw to the whole world of professional rugby. In the first year in particular it helped me organise myself and get the right balance between college, training and work.

“I was all over the place before that but from the coaches and the older players around me I learnt the importance of organising your day with food, college and training. Once I got that sorted I was better able to focus and improve on the pitch. At the end of the day, the more organised you are off the pitch, the better you will be on the pitch.

“The big thing for me is that I need to be playing matches and I got that in the academy. I’m newer to rugby than some of the other lads so the more games I can play the better. You learn a lot from different match situations and my games at Club (Cork Constitution) and ‘A’ level really helped my development.”

“Even as a person I grew up a lot over those three years. It really is a great system and if you look at the good guys who have come through – Rory (Scannell), Jack (O’Donoghue) and those guys – it’s working very well.”

On adapting some of his hurling and hockey skillsets for rugby, the 22-year-old added, “Playing those sports definitely helped my hand-eye coordination, footwork and ability under the high ball, but as well as that they got me used to playing in a high-level team environment. I also got the opportunity to play in front of large crowds, particularly when I was hurling. That’s not to say I wasn’t nervous when making my first start for Munster, I definitely was.”

Sweetnam’s ability to field a high ball was immediately evident in the senior ranks, doing so – at pace – on his competitive debut against Cardiff Blues in Irish Independent Park last February.

From there, the versatile back-three player had to wait just shy of a year to make his first senior start, doing so away to Zebre in Round 13 of the Guinness PRO12 where an assured performance saw him retain his starting position against Ospreys in Cork a fortnight later.

“Heading down to Zebre I was excited and nervous at the same time, but to be honest I was more nervous playing against Ospreys than I was against Zebre. Over there, there was a much smaller crowd and it was in front of Italian supporters, whereas Ospreys was in front of a home crowd and I knew there was a lot of relatives and people from Dunmanway coming to the game.

“When Axel included me for Zebre I was shocked in a way but delighted at the same time. On long journeys where you travel the day before, you can be waiting around a long time for the game. That can be tough, you just want to get the game on rather than going over it in your mind.

“When you get on the pitch and start the warm up the nerves begin to ease. Zebre hit me with an early high ball and once I caught that I was in the zone and forgot about everything else. I focused on my role and thankfully it went well.”

For many, Munster’s most recent outing – against Ospreys – was one of mixed emotion. Despite the province succumbing to a late onslaught by the Welsh outfit, the home faithful were delighted to see Sweetnam mark his arrival on the senior stage with a try saving tackle and deft offload to set up Munster’s second try. (View highlights below)

“For the try Duncan (Williams) picked and went and ran a great line that drew in two men before popping it to me. I saw two defenders coming up on me and I heard Robin shouting ‘I’m on your right’ and then I trusted my instinct and popped it up to him.

“There are times where, depending on how you are tackled, you mightn’t be able to see the runner but you have to trust in his call and offload knowing he will be there to take it. Thankfully it popped straight into his hands.

As regards the try-saving tackle he added, “The big thing about Munster is work rate and when I saw Tom Grabham making the break I knew I had to sprint as fast as I could and luckily I got there and made the tackle – nothing worse than getting there and missing the tackle. It was good for my own confidence in the game but sadly not enough to get us victory which was the main thing.

“My father, mother, brother and sister all travelled up for the game so it was nice for them and me that things went ok from a personal perspective, but when you are in a tightknit group like Munster the team result is the main thing as it was a very, very disappointed dressing room afterwards.”

Munster now hope to make amends for last Sunday’s defeat when they travel to face Glasgow Warriors in Kilmarnock tomorrow evening and the winger’s good form and hard work has been rewarded with his third start in as many rounds – a trend he hopes continues.

“I just want to keep the head down and train to the best of my ability. We have a lot of quality in the back three at the moment and we drive each other on. If I make the matchday squad that’s a massive bonus and then it’s a case of backing it up on the pitch.”

Glasgow Warriors v Munster, Guinness PRO12 Round 15, Friday February 19^th at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock – KO 7:35pm.