Gordon William D'Arcy (born
10 February 1980 in Ferns, County Wexford
) is an Irish rugby
player, more specifically an
inside centre. He is registered to Lansdowne RFC and
plays for provincial and Magners League side Leinster.
Career
D'Arcy was
a promising fullback for schools
side Clongowes
Wood
in the late 1990s, and on the eve of his Leaving Cert was called into the Irish
squad for the tour of South Africa by coach Warren Gatland. However, because of
his studies he declined that opportunity. On leaving school he
joined the Lansdowne Rugby Club and made his
Ireland debut on 15
October 1999 as a substitute against
Romania during the
World Cup. Following a
falling out with his provincial coaches regarding his attitude -
which almost drove him to retire from the game - D'Arcy was left
out of the international setup for three years. His second game for
his country came on 17 November 2002 as a late substitute in
Ireland's 64-17 win over
Fiji. He made a further three
appearances as a substitute during 2003.
D'Arcy was not picked for the Irish squad for the 2003
Rugby World Cup in Australia, but was picked
for the Leinster team during the absence of its World Cup players.
It was then that he came into his own, playing some of the best
rugby of his career at
fullback/
wing, where he displayed
delightful skill in running from deep and finishing off the moves
that he had started.
After the World Cup, an injury to
Brian
O'Driscoll, his Leinster team mate, saw D'Arcy move to
outside centre, where he made a great impression. Owing to the
further absence of O'Driscoll from the Irish squad for the first
match of the
Six Nations in
that season against
France, D'Arcy found
himself in the number 13 jersey at international level. Such was
his form that, on O'Driscoll's return, he kept his place, allowing
the selectors to experiment with O'Driscoll at
inside centre.
D'Arcy was voted player of the Six Nations tournament in 2004 as he
helped inspire his country to the
Triple Crown for the first time
since 1985. What most impressed supporters was his ability to
wrong-foot the flat-defence off passes from O'Driscolland to create
space out of nothing; this was particularly appreciated in his
performance against England at Twickenham. It seemed that a new
type of centre partnership had been created, which superseded the
grinding format preferred by international coaches, of using a
crash centre at no.12 and ignoring the possibilities of quick
offloads in the centre of the field. The new centre combination was
also impressive in its hard and intelligent defence, which often
converted into successful counter-attack.
Despite an injury plagued 2004-05 season, D'Arcy was named in the
British and Irish Lions
squad for their 2005
tour to New
Zealand. But his performances during the tour were generally
poor, and he reputedly refused to play in the final test against
New Zealand, though he vehemently denies this. There were fears at
that stage that his form during the 2003/04 season would prove to
have been a flash in the pan. However, he has been back fully fit
for Leinster and Ireland in the 2005/06 season and has impressed in
a new-look, much more attack minded Leinster team.
D'Arcy played in all of Ireland's 2006 Six Nations matches,
although not as impressive as in 2004, he beat more defenders than
any other player, and showed glimpses of his talent. His return to
top form continued during the autumn international series where his
performances against Australia and South Africa contributed to back
- to - back victories for the Irish team. D'Arcy now usually plays
at inside centre for Leinster and Ireland with O'Driscoll outside
him.
D'Arcy played in all of Ireland's 2007 Six Nations matches, and
seemed back to full form as he picked up the RBS Six Nations Player
Of The Tournament.
After sustaining a multiple fracture in his arm in the opening
match of the 2008 Six Nations, versus Italy, D'Arcy missed the
remainder of the season and only returned to Leinster in December
2008. He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the
2009 Six Nations
Championship and Grand Slam. In May 2009, D'Arcy was named in
the
Barbarians squad to play
England and
Australia along
with Ireland team mate
Geordan Murphy
and Leinster colleague
Rocky Elsom., the
Barbarians ended up beating England by 33 points to 26 with D'Arcy
scoring one of the tries.
On 3 June 2009, D'Arcy was called up for the
British and
Irish Lions squad for the tour in
South
Africa.
Personal life
Gordon regularly partakes in charity work, including work for
Barretstown,
GOAL.ie, personal
appearances at various children's hospitals in Dublin and work with
Brainwave (epilepsy society in Ireland) and the
Irish MS society.
Gordon is enrolled in UCD 1st year arts for the academic year
2007/08. He is from County Wexford, being a fan of the county's GAA
teams. Gordon is a very popular figure with Leinster and Ireland
supporters, and is known for his affable easy-going personality and
his generosity.
References
- http://www.irishrugby.ie/283_17196.php
External links
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