Connacht In The Running For ‘Collision Kings’ Award
The Rhino Collision Kings award is awarded each year to the team in the RaboDirect PRO12 which has shown most improvement at the breakdown throughout the regular season.
The trophy is a replica of the groundbreaking ‘Collision King’ machine invented by Richie Gray, the Rhino skills consultant and brand ambassador who was recently appointed breakdown coach to the Springboks through to next year’s Rugby World Cup.
The selection panel for the Rhino Collision Kings award is chaired by Galashiels-based Gray, who in addition to other duties has been a BBC Radio Scotland commentator throughout much of the PRO12 season.
This year the three teams on the shortlist for the award are Glasgow Warriors, Connacht and Benetton Treviso.
Gray commented: “The Warriors have continued to maintain the form at the breakdown that has underpinned a great deal of their success in recent years.
“Both Connacht and Treviso have however shown tremendous improvement in this vitally important phase of the game throughout the season, and this again has been a big factor in some outstanding performances from these two sides.”
The Rhino Collision Kings award was won in 2011/12 by Glasgow Warriors and the Scarlets were chosen as the 2012/13 winners.
Together with the Rhino Golden Boot award for the league’s leading goal-kicker, it will be presented at the RaboDirect PRO12 Awards in Edinburgh next Sunday (May 11).