Munster Rugby celebrate annual award winners

BACK-ROWER CJ Stander has scooped the Munster Rugby Men’s Player of the Year accolade for a record third time in six years.

In making 11 starts, 30-year-old Stander captained the province on two occasions and produced a player of the match performance against Saracens in Thomond Park in December.

A standout performer on every occasion, CJ topped the charts for carries in the Champions Cup with 120 carries after the six pool games.

The winners of the 2020 Munster Rugby Awards, across the professional and domestic game in 11 categories, were announced on Monday.

The Young Player of the Year accolade went to 23-year-old Shane Daly who enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in his first year as a member of the senior squad.

He started 13 of his 14 appearances in red on the wing and at full-back and made his Champions Cup debut against Racing 92 in Paris in January.

Munster's John McCarthy Award For Greencore Munster Academy Player of the Year went to number 8 Jack O’Sullivan.

The Women’s Player of the Year accolade was awarded to Sarah Quin of UL-Bohemian.

Sarah Quin began playing rugby for Young Munster RFC and subsequently moved to Richmond RFC before making the step up to playing in the All Ireland League with UL Bohemians.

The Limerick native is well known in rugby circles as a dynamic and powerful ball-carrying back row.

Since making her debut for the Munster Women’s team in 2018, Quin has been widely regarded as a game-changer at both club and interprovincial level, regularly getting on the scoresheet and racking up her try count.

Meanwhile, the Hall of Fame accolade was awarded to the late Garrett Fitzgerald.

Posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame, Garrett Fitzgerald was Munster's CEO from 1999 to 2019.

The longest-serving provincial chief executive in Irish rugby, Garrett spearheaded the province’s rise in the professional era overseeing a 20-year period that produced the greatest days for the province, with successes on and off the field.

The Munster Rugby Referee of the Year accolade was awarded to Eoghan Cross.

Eoghan joined the MAR in 2016 and straightaway showed good promise as a referee. He progressed from age grade into adult rugby during that initial season.

He earned promotion to the IPAS group in 2017 and made the IRFU national panel for the 2018/19 season, refereeing across all Division 2 of the All Ireland League that season.

Further development saw him advance to Division 1A a season later where he refereed his first 1A game in January 2020 and refereed his first ‘A’ Interprovincial.

Since the resumption of rugby, Eoghan refereed the pre-season challenge game between Connacht and Munster in Galway and has progressed to Assistant Referee level in the Guinness PRO14.

Elsewhere, the Club Mini Section of the Year was won by Clonakilty RFC, while the Club Youth Section of the Year was awarded to Killarney RFC.

CBC, of Cork, won the School of the Year award, while Kilfeacle and District claimed the Junior Club of the Year accolade.

The Senior Club of the Year award was won by Cork Constitution.