Eyasses enjoy awards evening

Last Friday saw an end of season awards evening held at Llandarcy Adademy of Sport to celebrate the achievements of the Elite Rugby Development system in the Ospreys

Commemorating the work undertaken with Osprey players from the B and C training group, there was a plethora of awards up for grabs, with the honours handed out as follows:

Skill of the Year: Ben John (Offload for Aberavon vs Pontypridd)
Tackle of the Year: Dan Baker (for Wales U18’s vs England U18’s)
Try of the Year: Eli Walker (for Swansea vs Cardiff)
Garin Jenkins Award for Most Improved Player: Mathew Morgan
Keith Holifield Award for Trainer of the Year: Lloyd Peers
Osprey of the Year: Justin Tipuric

From technical awards to season long honours it was good to review and celebrate the achievements of players in national age-grade and senior squads as well as players who have donned the senior Osprey jersey.

The final award for Osprey of the year was the crowning glory of the evening and went to a player who displays true Osprey values of selflessness, teamwork and hard work as well as displaying elite rugby qualities. The winner, Justin Tipuric, was the unanimous choice of all staff members who have worked with him this season. Justin commented on the award:

“It’s a great honour in winning this inaugural award, especially given the quality of players that I train with on a daily basis. There is a world class system in place here at the Ospreys with some great coaches and support staff and it is fantastic to be a part of."

The evening is one that will hopefully become established in the Ospreys calendar and will run for years to come, rewarding hard work and creating Ospreys landmarks over time, offering further Osprey aspirations for young players.

Andrew Millward, Ospreys Performance Development Manager commented:

“It was a brilliant evening with a well crafted presentation followed by a group trip to the Liberty to see the seniors complete the regular Magners season in style against the Dragons. We feel that we are constantly improving the content and organisation of the development pathway with senior and development coaches working in close harmony; The proof is in the pudding and our players coming through are now well equipped in all parts of the demands of professional rugby as we have seen with countless examples in the awards.“