A highly successful year for New Zealand rugby has been recognised with the winning of four Awards at the International Rugby Award (IRB) Awards ceremony held in London.
All Blacks Coach Graham Henry was named Coach of the Year, New Zealand Under-20 and Bay of Plenty flanker Luke Braid the Junior Player of the Year and Sevens Captain DJ Forbes the Sevens Player of the Year.
The All Blacks were named Team of the Year for their outstanding 2008 campaign which, with only this weekend’s Hilary Shield Clash against England to come, has seen them win 13 out of the 15 matches played this year.
NZRU CEO Steve Tew said it was a great achievement for all of the New Zealand teams and individuals recognised, reflecting the commitment and excellence of New Zealand rugby teams at all levels from the Under 20 team through to the All Blacks, as well as the people behind them.
“It was also fitting that while our modern teams were awarded for their efforts, we were reminded of the huge legacy left by people like Joe Warbrick from the Bay of Plenty, who was instrumental in establishing the tradition of rugby tours with the Natives, a fore-runner to our New Zealand Maori side.”
The 1888 Natives Team of New Zealand and their chief organiser, selector and captain Joe Warbrick, were inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame for their pioneering tour of Britain.
At 15, Warbrick is New Zealand’s youngest ever provincial player and appeared alongside four of his brothers on the tour but was hampered by injury and only played in seven out of the incredible 107 tour fixtures.
For a full list of Award winners please go to http://www.irb.com/
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