6 Nations
Rugby Writers Of Ireland Honour Van Der Flier And Jones
Josh van der Flier and Neve Jones have been chosen as the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Men’s and Women’s Players of the Year respectively.
Praised for their consistent performances throughout the 2021/22 season, the Ireland duo received their awards at this evening’s ceremony at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
Van der Flier was one of the standout players as the Ireland Men’s team claimed the Triple Crown in March, along with a historic series win on the summer tour of New Zealand.
The 29-year-old Wicklow man also turned in some brilliant performances for Leinster, both domestically in the United Rugby Championship and on the European stage.
“I am very proud to have been voted the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year,” said the Leinster and Ireland flanker.
“On a personal and professional level, 2022 has been incredibly special for me and it was wonderful to have our amazing supporters backing us throughout the season.
“All my team-mates at Leinster and Ireland were equally incredible last season and I definitely would not be picking up this award without their help.
“I hope that we can keep all improving over the next 12 months as we look ahead to an exciting year for Irish Rugby.”
Jones also enjoyed a tremendous season with the Ireland Women. Her outstanding Six Nations performances were followed by a superb display when the Gloucester-Hartpury hooker scored a hat-trick of tries against Japan.
“It is a huge honour to be named the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year,” said the 23-year-old from Ballymena.
“There is no doubt that this has been the most enjoyable year of my rugby career so far and to be the recipient of this award just tops that off.
“I was also delighted to be a part of Ireland’s historic tour to Japan and I am really looking forward to the years ahead with this team.”
The Ireland Men’s team was named the Dave Guiney Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Team of the Year in recognition of their first ever series win over New Zealand during their summer tour.
Andy Farrell’s charges also took home silverware from their 2022 Guinness Six Nations campaign by defeating Wales, England and Scotland to claim a first Triple Crown since 2018.
Terry Kennedy was named the Men’s Sevens Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, cementing his reputation as one of the best Sevens players in the world.
Another excellent season for Kennedy saw him pick up the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Top Try Scorer title, having crossed the whitewash 50 times in this year’s series.
The St. Mary’s College speedster was selected on the World Series Dream Team before playing a vital role in Ireland’s bronze medal-winning run at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe was announced as the Ireland Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, the second time she has won the award in her career.
The lightning-quick Tipperary native reached a century of tries this season while also being named on the World Series Dream Team. She played a pivotal role in helping the Ireland Women qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Murphy Crowe also featured for the Ireland Women’s 15s side in the 2021 November internationals and the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations.
Also honoured on the night was retiring Leinster Rugby CEO Mick Dawson, who was presented with the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Tom Rooney Award.
Dawson has overseen a period of extraordinary success both on and off the field for Leinster Rugby.
He has been at the helm for Leinster’s most successful period, with the province winning four Champions Cup titles, one European Challenge Cup and eight league crowns during his 21 years as CEO.
Elsewhere, Enniscorthy RFC were voted the Club of the Year on the back of their impressive achievement in winning Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 2B last season.
With a largely local-based squad, the Wexford club was competing at this level for the first time after winning the Round Robin Series in 2021, and won 16 of their 18 games to secure promotion.
Finally, former Munster, Ireland and British & Irish Lions lock Mick Galwey and Phillip Matthews, the ex-Ulster, Ireland, Lions and Barbarians flanker, have been inducted into the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Hall of Fame.
Galwey won an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medal with Kerry before committing himself to rugby. He went on to win 41 caps for Ireland and was selected for the Lions tour to New Zealand in 1993.
Matthews, meanwhile, made 38 appearances for Ireland, captaining the side on 13 occasions. He was also part of the 1985 Five Nations Championship-winning team and represented Ireland at two Rugby World Cups in 1987 and 1991.
Rory Sheridan, Head of Partnerships for Diageo, said: “Guinness is proud to recognise the outstanding achievements and contributions to Irish Rugby during the 2021/22 season.
“As a long-term partner of both Irish Rugby and the Rugby Writers of Ireland, it has been great to see so much success both on and off the pitch.
“I would like to congratulate all of those who have been honoured today by the Rugby Writers of Ireland, most of all, Josh van der Flier and Neve Jones on their tremendous personal achievements this past season.
“Both players showed tremendous leadership throughout, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them on the pitch last year.
“I would also like to share my heartfelt best wishes to Mick Dawson on his retirement following a hugely successful tenure as Leinster Rugby CEO. On behalf of Guinness, I wish him all the best in the future.
“All of us at Guinness have been delighted to see the rugby community – players, fans, media and beyond – come together once again and embrace the camaraderie that comes with this rugby occasion, and we are delighted to once again be celebrating days like this together.”
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
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