Darcy Swain: 17-Test Wallaby on decision to join French side Clermont

Darcy Swain was three days into a week-long family holiday in Singapore when the Wallabies came calling last October. With the national team in desperate need of reinforcements amid a second-row injury crisis, Swain was flown to the United Kingdom.

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Josh Canham had been sidelined following Australia’s four-point win over Japan in Tokyo. La Rochelle lock Will Skelton was also unavailable to face England, as the Test fell outside of World Rugby’s three-week international window.

It’d been three years since Swain last represented the Wallabies, with then-coach Dave Rennie starting the lock against Italy. The Azzurri made history on that fateful November day in 2022, with electric fullback Ange Capuozzo scoring a double in the team’s first-ever win over the Wallabies.

Swain has since made two appearances for Australia A, including a start against Portugal ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and a standout performance in a one-sided 71-7 win over a Japan XV last October before being called into the top squad.

The 28-year-old spent two weeks with the Wallabies squad before returning home to Australia, later describing the experience as “bittersweet.” While Swain was grateful to be back in the fold with the Wallabies, the set-piece guru didn’t feature in any Spring Tour Tests.

But even now, after agreeing to a three-year deal overseas with Top 14 side Clermont, Swain said: “I want nothing more than to play for the Wallabies again.”

“I sort of haven’t really been involved for the last three years. Whilst it’s disappointing, it just means I’ve got to get better in certain areas that the coaches have helped me out with,” Swain told RugbyPass.

“It was a pretty hard decision to go but it was just the right time for me and my family to move.

“Different experience, I’ve been playing Super for a while now so just felt as if it’s the right time to go and do something different, experience what France has to offer – like the atmosphere and the lifestyle.”

Swain started his Super Rugby journey with the ACT Brumbies, debuting in a 20-25 defeat to the Jaguares in Canberra on April 22, 2018. The second-rower made the move west ahead of the 2025 season, agreeing to a two-year deal with the Force.

It was announced by the Force in January that Swain had agreed to a three-year deal in France with Clermont. As Swain explained, this move presents the chance to experience the types of rugby atmospheres seen at iconic venues in the Northern Hemisphere.

Pete Samu and George Bridge have both recently spoken with this publication about what it’s like to live and play rugby in France. Swain is looking forward to that opportunity to experience the passion and atmosphere created by fans who “love their footy.”

“They’re a club that’s been very competitive for as long as anyone can remember. European champions and Top 14 champions only less than 10 years ago,” Swain explained.

“There’s just a lot of rich history that I’d love to get over there and be a part of. I’ve spoken to Folau (Fainga’a), Pete Samu about the Top 14 and what it’s like.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do as a player… the Champions Cup and the Challenger Cup, you can’t get that in Super Rugby. Just felt it was time to go, it was the right time for me and my family to move over and give them experience and set them up financially.

“It was just a no-brainer. I hadn’t been involved in the Wallabies for three or four years, felt like I was just sitting on the fringe, so it came up and I really wanted to go so just pulled the trigger on it.”

Swain was included in the Wallabies’ 40-man squad for a January training camp in Sydney, with Isaac Kailea another notable inclusion. This group was made up of only Australian-based players, so the likes of Len Ikitau and Skelton weren’t included.

Ikitau and Swain actually go way back, with the pair both graduating from Brisbane Boys’ College after starring for the High School’s First XV. They shared similar journeys to Super Rugby and higher honours too, both inking deals in the capital with the Brumbies.

Fast-forward to Swain’s return to the Wallabies mix during the 2025 Spring Tour, the lock roomed with Ikitau. Ikitau received the 2025 John Eales Medal as the Wallabies Player of the Year and is currently on sabbatical with Rugby Australia, part of the Exeter Chiefs squad this season.

“I was in a similar boat to Len. The Reds are spoiled for talent so you can’t keep everyone, I get that, but I was in a similar boat. There were a few locks there that they had already put in their under-20s and signed to their top squad and wider-training squads.

“Same as Len, we both came down to play in the 20s – there wasn’t an Academy back then but the under-20s was essentially the Academy – I came down at the end of 2015, he came down in 2016… eventually got signed on a wider-training squad for a couple of years.

“If it wasn’t for the Brums, that opportunity for all of us I guess.

“They had a couple of older locks too, Rory Arnold was there sort of in his prime, same with Blake Enever and then Richie Arnold came and I was the younger lock, the apprentice if you like. I know Len was sort of the same in that regard.

“After two or three years in the Under-20s Academy and doing pre-season, we went into the top squad and it all worked out for us. It’s nice.”