THE 2021 IRISH Rugby Players Awards have taken place virtually today.
Hosted by Andrew Trimble and Barry Murphy, this year’s rescheduled event was held via YouTube.
Robbie Henshaw has been named Men’s Players’ Player of the Year, seeing off Connacht’s Tom Daly, Munster’s Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson of Ulster.
It is the 28-year-old’s first time winning the award, following a year in which he played a key role on the Lions tour of South Africa and was also nominated for Six Nations Player of the Tournament.
“The 2020/21 campaign will always stand out in my mind because the circumstances under which we played were so unique,” said Henshaw.
I’m hugely honoured to win this award but I think the wider rugby community also deserve great credit for how they kept the show on the road to give players like Tadhg, Tom, Iain and I the opportunity to go out to play for club and country.”
🏆@Zurich_Irl Men's XVs Players' Player of the Year🏆
— RugbyPlayersIreland (@RugbyPlayersIRE) December 3, 2021
Consistently amongst the best players on the field for @leinsterrugby, @IrishRugby & @lionsofficial in 2020/21, @henshawrob has been voted by his peers as their Player of the Year! #RugbyAwards21 pic.twitter.com/XRXvAV7wEf
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Dorothy Wall has been named both Women’s Players’ Player of the Year and Women’s Young Player of the Year.
The Munster back-row shone during what she admits to being a difficult campaign at international level.
“We’ve had a tough year on and off the field but I’ve taken great delight in how the team has performed in recent weeks and great hope in what we stand to achieve as a group in time to come,” Wall said.
“We have great quality in the squad, not least in my fellow nominees Eimear (Considine), Stacey (Flood) and Béibhinn (Parsons). While we failed to continue in the form that we finished out the 2020/21 season with, the experience of the past few months will only stand to us in the longer term.”
🏆@Zurich_Irl Women's XVs Players' Player of the Year🏆
— RugbyPlayersIreland (@RugbyPlayersIRE) December 3, 2021
A double hit for Dorothy Wall as our Young Player of the Year continues her rise! #RugbyAwards21 pic.twitter.com/oK7hjmppBI
Elsewhere, Gavin Coombes of Munster claimed the Men’s Young Player of the Year.
Here’s a full list of the winners:
Irish Men’s Players’ Player of the Year
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster)
Irish Women’s Players’ Player of the Year
Dorothy Wall (Munster)
Young Player of the Year
Gavin Coombes (Munster)
Women’s Young Player of the Year
Dorothy Wall (Munster)
Contribution to Irish Society
Tommy Bowe
Irish Women’s 7s Player of the Year
Lucy Mulhall
Irish Men’s 7s Player of the Year
Terry Kennedy
Moment of the Year
Ireland Men v England, Six Nations
Men’s Try of the Year
JJ Hanrahan, Munster v Cardiff Blues
Women’s Try of the Year
Béibhinn Parsons, Wales v Ireland
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey discuss an insane week for Munster, Ulster’s impressive win over Leinster and ask can Connacht repeat their feat from earlier this year and win at the same ground?
