Caelan Doris and Aoife Wafer have won the XV Player of the Year gongs at the Rugby Writers of Ireland awards, sponsored by Guinness.
Andy Farrell’s Ireland were chosen as the Team of the Year, Ballyclare RFC got Club of the Year, and both Keith Wood and Joy Neville were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Doris, who is also shortlisted for World Player of the Year, was outstanding for Leinster and Ireland, both which he now captains. He said: “Given it’s such a team sport, it’s more of a reflection on the two groups, the two environments and the success we’ve had with Leinster and Ireland.
“I’m a product of the environment I feel, but at the same time I hope a lot of the people from Ballina, from Mayo, my family and friends take a bit of enjoyment from it as well. It’s pretty cool.”
Wafer enjoyed a series of brilliant displays in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, helping Ireland to a third-place finish that guaranteed qualification for the recent WX1 tournament in Canada and next year’s World Cup in England.
She said: “Kickstarting a good campaign with Ireland in France, it was the start of a growth for this team over the last year. Beating the Black Ferns is a highlight for me in my career, I’d say, for the rest of my life and it’s going to be a day that I look back on very fondly.
Ireland’s Zac Ward was named Men’s Sevens Player of the Year. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
“We came away from that Canadian game and we were a little bit disappointed, but getting another win in WXV1 against the USA is pretty special. So, it’s been a big year for Ireland, and I’ve just been very lucky and very grateful to have been involved in that.”
Zac Ward and Amee-Leigh Murphy won the respective Sevens Player of the Year awards.
Ireland’s Six Nations Championship title was recognised in the men’s XV claiming the Dave Guiney Team of the Year award,while Ballyclare was named Club of the Year after qualifying for senior rugby last season for the first time in their 75-year history.
The popular and personable former Connacht Rugby chief executive, Gerry Kelly, received the Tom Rooney Award. Kelly was the province’s first CEO in 1999 and oversaw significant growth, including an increase in clubs from 16 to 28 and the development of rugby in non-traditional schools.
Being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Neville and Wood were both recognised for the honour and distinction they brought to Irish rugby.
There was also a newly minted award to honour the late RTÉ rugby commentator and broadcaster Fred Cogley, the first recipients of which were former Irish Times rugby correspondent Edmund van Esbeck and former Live 95 commentator Len Dinneen.
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