Robbie Henshaw is Zurich Men's Players' Player of the Year

This afternoon, Leinster and Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw was named as the Zurich Men’s Players’ Player of the Year 2021 by his fellow players at the Zurich Irish Rugby Players Awards ceremony.

Hosted on YouTube by Barry Murphy and Andrew Trimble, the virtual event was due to take place at the end of last season but was postponed owing to Covid-19 concerns.

It is the first time that Henshaw, who has won the Nevin Spence Young Player of the Year award on three occasions, has prevailed in the senior category.

The Coosan man's form last season saw him nominated for the Six Nations' Player of the Tournament, while he was also a central feature of the Lions tour to South Africa in the summer. He wins the award ahead of Connacht’s Tom Daly and his fellow Lions tourists Tadhg Beirne and Iain Henderson.

On receiving his award, Henshaw commented: "The 2020/21 campaign will always stand out in my mind because the circumstances under which we played were so unique.

"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."

Following an abrasive Six Nations Championship, Dorothy Wall took home the Zurich Women’s Players’ Player of the Year and was also named the Whoop Women’s Young Player of the Year which was being awarded for the first time. She wins both awards ahead of her international colleague Béibhinn Parsons who was the winner of the MSL Motor Group Women’s Try of the Year Award for her effort against Wales.

Speaking on her double victory, Wall said: “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. We have great quality in the squad, not least in my fellow nominees Eimear (Considine), Stacey (Flood) and Béibhinn. 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.”

Having been capped by Ireland in the summer to round out a prolific season, Gavin Coombes will also go down as the Nevin Spence Young Player of the Year for 2021.

Meanwhile, Coombes’ former Munster teammate CJ Stander accepted the Druids Glen Moment of the Year Award on behalf of his former Irish teammates for their victory over England in the final round of the Six Nations. The occasion also marked Stander’s last outing in green.

The Zurich Contribution to Irish Society award was presented to Tommy Bowe in recognition of his unrelenting efforts to support charities and initiatives across Ireland.

Each of the winners have received a Whoop 4.0.

Simon Keogh, CEO of Rugby Players Ireland commented: "While we would have loved to have celebrated the 2019/20 campaign at the season’s end, nothing has been as it was over the past 18 months.

"Nevertheless, we feel it is important to acknowledge the efforts of our members who continued to perform to the best of their abilities both on and off the field during the most unusual time in their careers. I wish to congratulate all of our winners and applaud our members for their efforts.”

ZURICH IRISH MEN’S PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2021

Winner: Robbie Henshaw Leinster Rugby

Nominees:

Tadhg Beirne Munster Rugby

Tom Daly Connacht Rugby

Iain Henderson Ulster Rugby

ZURICH IRISH WOMEN’S PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2021

Winner: Dorothy Wall Munster Rugby

Nominees:

Eimear Considine Munster Rugby

Stacey Flood Leinster Rugby

Béibhinn Parsons Connacht Rugby

NEVIN SPENCE YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2021

Winner: Gavin Coombes Munster Rugby

Nominees:

Craig Casey Munster Rugby

Hugo Keenan Leinster Rugby

Scott Penny Leinster Rugby

WHOOP WOMEN’S YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2021

Winner: Dorothy Wall Munster Rugby

Nominees:

Stacey Flood Leinster Rugby

Brittany Hogan Ulster Rugby

Béibhinn Parsons Connacht Rugby

ZURICH CONTRIBUTION TO IRISH SOCIETY 2021

Tommy Bowe

IZEST MARKETING IRISH WOMEN’S 7s PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2021

Winner: Lucy Mulhall

AIB CORPORATE BANKING IRISH MEN’S 7s PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2021

Winner: Terry Kennedy

DRUIDS GLEN HOTEL & GOLF RESORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR

Winner: Ireland Men v England, Six Nations

Nominees:

Ireland Sevens Olympic Qualification

Ireland Women v Wales, Six Nations

MSL MOTOR GROUP MEN’S TRY OF YEAR 2021

Winner: JJ Hanrahan Munster v Cardiff Blues

Nominees:

Robert Baloucoune Ulster v Leinster Guinness PRO14

Keith Earls Ireland v England Six Nations

Sean O’Brien Scarlets v Connacht Guinness PRO14

MSL MOTOR GROUP WOMEN’S TRY OF YEAR 2021

Winner: Béibhinn Parsons Wales v Ireland

Nominees:

Eimear Considine Wales v Ireland

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe Ireland v Italy

Sene Naoupu Wales v Ireland