All phots (C) INPHO/James Crombie

Celtic Rugby launched the 2010/11 Magners League campagin with an awards ceremony in Cardiff this week. This year sees the introduction of two Italian sides to make it a 12 team competition accross four nations. Tommy Bowe scooped the Players' Player of the Year Award while Connachts' Michael Bradley picked up the Chairmans Award for outstanding service to rugby.

Magners Players’ Player Award - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Tommy Bowe has scooped an historic hat-trick of awards – the Ospreys’ dynamic wing last night named as the winner of the Magners Players’ Player Award at the inaugural Magners League Awards ceremony staged at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
It is the third honour bestowed on the Irish star by his peers following the professional players of both Ireland and Wales also naming the 26-year-old as their outstanding player of the 2009 / 2010 season.
"This is a great honour, especially as the votes have come from the other players in the Magners League,” said Bowe of his clean sweep of the individual honours board.
“It was a great season for the Ospreys, culminating in us winning the Grand Final against Leinster in Dublin, and this award rounds off the season very nicely indeed.
"But this has to close the door on the 2009 / 2010 season because the aim now is to go on and successfully defend our title. We know that is going to be a very hard thing to do - and that no team has been able to do that in the past.
"There is a ridiculous amount of young talent at the Ospreys and my first task is to try to break into the team before I can think about anything else. As well as Shane Williams and Nikki Walker, we've got Tom Prydie, Kristian Phillips, Eli Walker and Richard Fussell all challenging for the wing spots."
Bowe faced tough opposition from the Cardiff Blues duo of Xavier Rush and Ceri Sweeney, the league’s top try scorer Tim Visser, of Edinburgh, and Dragons wing Aled Brew.

Magners League Young Player of the Season - Tim Visser (Edinburgh)
Edinburgh’s Tim Visser made it a wing double when he was presented with the Magners League Young Player of the Season award.
Visser, born in Zeewolde, Holland, and an England Schoolboy international, scored a sensational 10 tries in 17 Magners League games – including seven in his last six tournament outings and a Murrayfield hat-trick against eventual champions the Ospreys.
The former Newcastle Falcons flyer finished at the head of the try-scoring charts to lift an award open to those players who were under 23, uncapped at the start of the season and who had played a minimum of 300 minutes in 2009 / 2010.
The other four candidates were forwards, with Leinster’s new Ireland prop Cian Healy being joined by the Scarlets’ Wales squad member Ken Owens and Glasgow Warriors’ Jon Welsh as front row candidates. New Edinburgh captain Roddy Grant was the other nominee.

Magners League Coach of the Season - Paul Turner (Newport Gwent Dragons)
Wales coach Warren Gatland presented Paul Turner with the Magners League Coach of the Season award.
Turner pipped Sean Lineen (Glasgow Warriors) to the title for turning the Dragons into one of the most competitive sides in the League. They lost only twice at home and also beat all four Play-Off sides at Rodney Parade.

Celtic Rugby Chairman’s Award - Michael Bradley (Connacht Rugby)
Michael Bradley had 138 games as Head Coach of Connacht Rugby and after eight seasons in charge of the Irish province he has decided to move on. In that time he has made Galway one of the most difficult venues for any team to visit and has made Connacht a highly competitive side.
They beat Leinster last season and Munster the season before that while he has also groomed players like skipper John Muldoon and hooker Sean Cronin for Irish honours.

Magners League Try of the Season - Ken Owens (Scarlets)
Scarlets hooker Ken Owens managed what even wing stars Bowe and Visser failed to do – collect the Magners League Try of the Season award.
The all-action front row forward took the honour for his spectacular score against Leinster at the RDS in February,beating off efforts from Shane Horgan, James Hook, Jim Thompson and Aled Brew.
Owens stepped out of the shadow of Wales and Lions star Matthew Rees last season, featuring in all bar one of his side’s 18 Magners League ties. Having made just 12 starts in his previous three seasons, the 23-year-old began 13 games last time out. His form earned him a first senior Wales call up for the 2010 Six Nations.

Gilbert Golden Boot Award - Chris Paterson (Edinburgh)
Chris Paterson – one of the world game’s elite in winning a century of Test caps – is the 2009 / 2010 season’s supreme marksman and the winner of the Gilbert Golden Boot Award.
He had the remarkable success rate of 88.89% from his 45 kicks at goal on the way to scoring 115 points in just nine tournament appearances last season and hoisting his overall tournament tally to 640 points in 70 appearances.

Specsavers Fairplay Award - Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues received a cheque for £10,000 for being the side with the best disciplinary record in the Magners League. This will be spent on Youth Development at the club.

Magners League Dream Team Captain - Ali Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
Ali Kellock, who led his side into the Play-Offs, where they lost away to the Ospreys, started 12 of the 18 regular season matches and led the Warriors to 10 wins and a draw in those games.
He took over the captaincy of Scotland on the tour to Argentina this summer and helped the Scottish national side to win their first away series as they beat the Pumas in back-to-back Tests.

Magners League Dream Team 2009 / 2010
Magners League champions the Ospreys supplied four players for the Magners League 2009 / 2010 Dream Team – including individual award winner Tommy Bowe.
He was joined by team-mates James Hook, Adam Jones and Jerry Collins with Brian O’Driscoll, Leo Cullen and Jamie Heaslip making the Dream Team line-up from beaten finalists Leinster.
Players from seven of the teams – the Ospreys, Leinster, Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors, Munster and the Scarlets – making the final 15.

15 Ben Blair (Cardiff Blues)
14 Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster)
12 James Hook (Ospreys)
11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh)
10 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Tomas O'Leary (Munster)
1 Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues)
2 Ken Owens (Scarlets)
3 Adam Jones (Ospreys)
4 Leo Cullen (Leinster)
5 Ali Kellock (Glasgow Warriors)
6 Jerry Collins (Ospreys)
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)
8 Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)


MAGNERS LEAGUE SIGNS UP ITALIAN BROADCAST PARTNER

Celtic Rugby is pleased to announce that Italian Pay-DTT broadcaster, Dahlia TV, will be showing live Magners League games played in Italy next season.
Established in January 2009 taking over the Telecom Italia Media Pay-DTT business and the related football rights and bandwidth contracts, Dahlia TV is the second largest player in the Italian Pay-DTT market, their signal covering 90% of the Italian population.
The four year deal will see Dahlia TV broadcast at least 19 matches from the home of either Aironi Rugby or Benetton Rugby Treviso during the regular league stage of the tournament. They will also show any Play-Off games involving an Italian team as well as the Magners League Grand Final at the end of May.
“We strongly believe that the Magners League is a wonderful product”, said Fabrizio Grassi, CEO of Dahlia TV. “We aim to invest on it in order to make this product appealing and to make it stand out.
“Our idea is to promote the game in Italy, and enable our audience to watch all the matches by surrounding the game itself with the programme to enhance the strength of the league.
“As a demonstration of Dahlia’s interest for rugby, many other tournaments will be transmitted during the next season 2010/2011."
David Jordan, Tournament Director for the Magners League, added: “I am pleased to welcome Dahlia TV on board, their partnership now ensures that Magners League games will be shown live in all our territories.
“Rugby is fast establishing itself as a mainstream sport in Italy, and this agreement affords the opportunity to fans across the country to watch the progress of their own teams in their inaugural season in the Magners League.”

MAGNERS LEAGUE BROADCAST PARTNERS 2010 / 11

BBC ALBA
BBC ALBA will be the exclusive broadcaster for live Magners League rugby in Scotland for the next four years, continuing until the 2013/14 season. Their package will provide live coverage of at least eight Edinburgh or Glasgow Warriors home games per season.
BBC ALBA has teamed up with Irish and Welsh broadcasters to also provide live coverage of selected away matches for both sides. Coverage of home matches will be provided on Friday nights.
Commentary will be in Gaelic along with expert pitchside analysis and interviews in English.
BBC ALBA is available on Sky 168 and Freesat 110, with each rugby match being made available live and on 7-day catch-up via BBC iPlayer.
For further information on BBC ALBA visit www.bbcalba.co.uk.
BBC Cymru Wales

BBC Sport Wales provides comprehensive coverage of the Magners League in both Welsh and English across its services.
On BBC Two Wales fans can enjoy live games on Friday evenings in Scrum V Live, presented by Gareth Lewis with commentary from Gareth Charles and Jonathan Davies. Digital viewers can press the red button during games for extra commentaries including the Fan Scene with Rick O'Shea.
On Sunday evenings on BBC Two Wales the Scrum V team offers Magners League fans extensive highlights, previews and analysis on all the action. Fans can also catch up with all the latest rugby news on BBC Radio Wales' Scrum V Radio on Thursday evenings from 7.00pm.
Comprehensive coverage, including reports, updates and commentaries are carried during the year on both BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru.
BBC Two Wales is available in Wales on Freeview channel 2, digital satellite (Sky and Freesat) 102, and Virgin 102. Outside Wales BBC Two Wales is available on digital satellite channel 991.
BBC Radio Wales is available across Wales on 93.9-95.9, 103.7,103.9 FM and 882 MW (mid Wales 1125, Clwyd 657). The station is also available on Freeview 719 and digital satellite 0117.
BBC Radio Cymru is available in Wales on 92.4-96.1, 96.8, 103.5-105 FM and is also available on digital satellite 0154 and Freeview 720

BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland has secured the broadcasting rights for live coverage of Magners League rugby for the next four seasons and all Ulster's home matches, as well as those away to the other Irish provinces, will be screened live on BBC Two NI.
The rest of Ulster’s away matches will be available to watch live either via the red button or online via the BBC Sport NI website – www.bbc.co.uk/sportni - if they are being covered by our partner broadcasters in Scotland, Wales and Italy.
Coverage will be presented by Stephen Watson, with Jim Neilly and Ryan Constable in the commentary box.

RTE
RTÉ Television is set to broadcast up to 40 live Magners League games this season as part of its comprehensive rugby coverage. RTÉ Sport will be broadcasting alongside TG4, ensuring Irish audiences will be able to enjoy the Irish provinces in action every week.
RTÉ’s renowned rugby panel of Tom McGurk, George Hook, Brent Pope and Conor O’Shea will be joined by some new faces as part of the live coverage on RTÉ Two. Ryle Nugent, Tony Ward, George Hamilton, Ralph Keyes, Hugh Cahill and Donal Lenihan will provide the commentary.

RTÉ will also offer fans live streaming of matches on www.RTÉ.ie within the island of Ireland, a catch up service on the RTÉ Player and coverage on RTÉ Radio.

S4C
S4C is one of the UK’s premier sports broadcasters. The Channel’s flagship rugby show Y Clwb Rygbi has live coverage of the Magners League almost every week throughout the season.
Viewers can access English subtitles and English-language commentary of live Magners League games is available on the red button on Sky. The programmes are presented by one of the UK’s strongest rugby presentation teams.
The team includes presenters Gareth Roberts, Sarra Elgan and Arthur Emyr, commentators Huw Llywelyn Davies, Wyn Gruffydd, Lyn Davies and Cennydd Davies and analysts such as former internationals Gwyn Jones, Brynmor Williams, Derwyn Jones and Gareth Edwards.
S4C is available in Wales on Sky 104, Freeview 4, Virgin 167, Freesat 104. In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland it is available on Sky 134 and Freesat 120. Much of the coverage is also available to view on line, at www.s4c.co.uk/clic

TG4
TG4 will provide comprehensive coverage on each of the 22 Magners League weekends. Full match coverage and analysis each weekend will track the progress of the Irish provinces, home and away.
Match commentary will come from Gearóid Mac Donncha and Gary Mac Donncha, and there will be previews and full match coverage featuring all the latest enhancements , as well as half-time and post match analysis and interviews with players and coaches.
In addition to hosting live coverage from the grounds in Ireland, TG4’s rugby offering will also include the Irish provinces’ away matches.
TG4 is available nationwide on terrestrial television and on all other delivery platforms throughout Ireland (Channel 104 for UPC cable and Sky subscribers in the Republic) on channel 177 for Sky subscribers in Northern Ireland and on channel 877 for ntl: cable subscribers in Belfast.

DAHLIA TV
Launched in March, 2009, Dahlia TV is an Italian pay television network, available on digital terrestrial television, offering 12 thematic Widescreen channels. For more details go to www.dahliatv.it.

Connacht's new Defence Coach Mike Forshaw recently completed the UK Ironman, we caught up with him to ask him about the experience.

Hi Mike, you’ve just completed the UK Ironman, how long have you been training for this event and where was it on?
I started training in the middle of November ’09 in the very cold English weather, I had about 9 months of training which varied from bike and swim sessions and long run known as ‘brick sessions’ in the triathlon world! The Ironman event was held in Bolton, England on the 1st August this year.

Was it difficult to fit training around your work schedule?
Schedule is the key, I would usually train at 6am followed by an evening session so in reality I was working out for around 15 hours a week and I didn’t really have a problem with work in the middle!

Your experience as a professional player and coach must have helped with the preparation, was there much of a crossover?
I suppose my background helped me but it’s very hard mentally to get into the pool and swim 3 kilometres, 3-4 times a week I love the bike training and running as I am pretty strong in those areas.

How did you get on in the Ironman?
My time of 12hrs 38mis was pleasing as it was a real tough bike course, not helped by strong winds! My split times were Swim (2.5miles) 1hr 17mins, Bike (115miles) 6hrs 50mins & Run (Marathon 26.3miles) 4hrs 2mins and I came 68th in my category!

Would you do it again? What’s next?
I’m not planning anything at the moment, my focus is on work and helping Connacht be as successful as can be in the Magners’ League. I may at some point do another Ironman, probably abroad in a warmer climate!

Mike Forshaw (right) pictured with Head Coach Eric and Brian Melrose  (C) INPHO Photography