Munster man a model professional in team’s race around province

Darren Sweetnam is already known as a jack of all trades, having played underage hockey and badminton for Ireland and breaking into the Cork senior hurling team before he’d sat his Leaving Cert.

The next step? A Munster academy contract. Naturally.

The 20-year-old yesterday added modelling to his repertoire on day two of the Munster Race, which has seen six groups of players traversing the province’s towns, relying on goodwill to get them food, transport, and accommodation as part of a team-building exercise.

Sweetnam joined Keith Earls in modelling some Adidas gear in the shop window of Lifestyle Sports in Clonmel, one of the challenges set for each group. Ian Nagle and Casey Laulala were among the others deemed handsome enough — or unlucky enough — by their fellow players to give the mannequin look a try.

The Dunmanway man also noted how one particular child’s autograph request showed how far he’s come, tweeting: “Never thought id see the day, signing a cork jersey on the kilkenny/waterford border in munster colours #munsterrace” with an accompanying picture.

Never thought id see the day, signing a cork jersey on the kilkenny/waterford border in munster colours #munsterrace pic.twitter.com/1IUHLr2ggA

— Darren Sweetnam (@D93sweets) August 1, 2013

Elsewhere, Felix Jones was having a great time, enjoying a jarvey trip around Killarney while the Dubliner — a former member of the band Hermitage Green, fronted by ex-Munster centre Barry Murphy — also showed off his bodhrán skills in a Kerry pub.

All the teams safely made it to their final destination in Youghal by 6pm yesterday, and made light of wet weather by holding a barbecue and Q&A session at the town’s rugby club ahead of an open training session this morning.

Dublin-based PR consultant Michelle Tritschler reckons the event was a marketing masterstroke.

“Munster Rugby have recognised the potential of social media to not only build awareness of the brand but to engage with stakeholders,” she wrote yesterday on mkc.ie.

“The success of the campaign so far has been amazing. It has not only gone viral but has also been picked up on mainstream media.

“The strategy has been very clever. Recognising the resources at their disposal, the players — the majority of whom are very active on Twitter with thousands of followers — Munster Rugby have simply used them to build awareness of the race.

“What could have been a mundane team-building exercise [instead] engaged with people in communities across Munster and has captured the public imagination.”