IRFU AIL Awards Mark End Of Thrilling 2018/19 Season
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is pictured with the winners of this season's IRFU All-Ireland League Awards at the Aviva Stadium ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
The IRFU’s All-Ireland League Awards took place this evening in the Aviva Stadium. Seventeen awards were presented to players, coaches and volunteers from both the Men’s and Women’s game.
Photo Gallery: IRFU All-Ireland League Awards
The Top Try Scorer across Divisions 1A and 1B of the All-Ireland League was young Lansdowne winger Peter Sullivan with 15 tries during the regular league season. In the Women’s All-Ireland League, Galwegians number 8 Denise Redmond topped the try-scoring charts with eight tries.
Naas’ prolific back Peter Osborne was the Top Points Scorer across Divisions 1A and 1B of the AIL with 169 points across the regular league season. Former Ireland captain Niamh Briggs of UL Bohemians was the Top Points Scorer in the Women’s league with 88 points.
The AIL Try of the Season and Women’s AIL Try of the Season were decided by an online public vote on the monthly winners of the season-long competition. The winner of the AIL Try of the Season is Malahide winger Daniel Hayes, who scored in their promotion-clinching win at Bruff, and the winner of the Women’s AIL Try of the Season is Stephanie Carroll, who ran in the match winner in Railway Union’s final victory over UL Bohs.
The Rising Star awards across all five divisions of the AIL, and the Women’s AIL, were voted for by the coaches in the respective leagues nominating stand-out performers from opposition sides.
The Rising Star for Division 1A is UCC’s talented out-half James Taylor who scored 150 points during the regular season and played a key role in the Cork University retaining their top flight status. Munster and Ireland starlet Enya Breen of UL Bohemians is the Women’s AIL Rising Star for 2018/19 in a season where she also made her international debut.
The Rising Star honour in Division 1B went to Old Belvedere’s free-scoring winger Jack Keating, who tallied up 13 tries during the campaign and represented the Ireland Club XV against Scotland. In Division 2A Highfield’s Dave O’Connell collected the Rising Star award for his role in their successful title and promotion-winning season.
MU Barnhall’s Brendan McSorley picked up the Rising Star Award in Division 2B for his efforts during their memorable unbeaten league campaign while he also represented the Ireland Students side this season. In Division 2c the Rising Star award went to Ballina’s young out-half Dylan Prendergast as they made it back-to-back promotions.
The All-Ireland League Coach of the Year award went to Adrian Flavin of MU Barnhall. Flavin’s side secured promotion to Division 2A, winning all 18 of their league games this season. The Women’s All-Ireland League Coach of the Year award went to UL Bohemians’ Ben Martin. UL topped the table, claimed the All-Ireland Cup and narrowly lost out to Railway in the recent league final.
The PRO of the Year award went to Shannon RFC’s Katie McCloskey for her work in promoting the club’s activity across traditional and digital platforms. The Volunteer of the Year award went to Corinthians RFC’s Derek Niland for his work in promoting inclusion and the establishment of Tag disability rugby.
The Spirit Club of the Year award went to Malone RFC for their work in promoting Women’s rugby, mixed ability rugby and building ties with their local community in Belfast.
2018/19 IRFU ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE AWARDS – LIST OF WINNERS:
AIL Division 1A/1B Top Try Scorer: Peter Sullivan (Lansdowne FC)
Women’s AIL Top Try Scorer: Denise Redmond (Galwegians RFC)
AIL Division 1A/1B Top Points Scorer: Peter Osborne (Naas RFC)
Women’s AIL Top Points Scorer: Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemian RFC)
AIL Division 1A Rising Star Award: James Taylor (UCC RFC)
Women’s AIL Rising Star Award: Enya Breen (UL Bohemian RFC)
AIL Division 1B Rising Star Award: Jack Keating (Old Belvedere RFC)
AIL Division 2A Rising Star Award: Dave O’Connell (Highfield RFC)
AIL Division 2B Rising Star Award: Brendan McSorley (MU Barnhall RFC)
AIL Division 2c Rising Star Award: Dylan Prendergast (Ballina RFC)
AIL Coach of the Year: Adrian Flavin (MU Barnhall RFC)
Women’s AIL Coach of the Year: Ben Martin (UL Bohemian RFC)
AIL Try of the Year: Daniel Hayes (Malahide RFC)
Women’s AIL Try of the Year: Stephanie Carroll (Railway Union RFC)
PRO of the Year: Katie McCloskey (Shannon RFC)
Volunteer of the Year: Derek Niland (Corinthians RFC)
Spirit Club of the Year: Malone RFC