IRB Announces Development Award 2010 Winner

The International Rugby Board has announced that Brian O’Shea has been awarded the IRB Development Award 2010 in association with Emirates Airline, the fourth of the prestigious IRB Awards to be presented this year.

Brian ‘Box’ O’Shea was presented with the Award at the John Eales Medal function in Sydney by Peter McGrath, IRB Council Member for Australia, in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the global development of the Game.

O’Shea has held a range of positions in Rugby including Australian Rugby Union High Performance Manager, Coach of the Waratahs, AIS Senior Coach, Coach of Toyota in Japan and selector for his native Newcastle and New South Wales, and has made a huge contribution to coach education in a Rugby career spanning more than 50 years.

"Brian O’Shea has dedicated his whole life to the development of Rugby, introducing new people to Rugby through coaching and coach education and supporting elite players who all speak of his integrity and passion for our sport," said Peter McGrath.

"He has made significant contributions to coach education over the past 27 years at the state, national and international level as a speaker and consultant, assisting in resource production and mentoring coaches. His research work with the University of Wollongong in the measurement of scrum forces, sequential scrum engagement and criteria for positional selection in scrums is still the seminal document and research paper in this field."

Rights-free photos of Brian O'Shea receiving his Award are available to download from www.irb.com/history/awards/media, the official IRB Awards online media centre.

Having worked in Japan, O’Shea is now dedicating his time, knowledge and experience to working with the Pacific Islands, assisting the IRB High Performance Investment Programme and advising on a number of aspects in the development and high performance areas of the game.

A native of Newcastle, O’Shea was first introduced to Rugby at the age of 17, playing first grade for the next 13 years. He represented his club and Newcastle as captain, and also played for NSW until he hung up his boots. The end of his playing career marked the start of his passion for developing Rugby.

He began coaching at the University of Newcastle then Newcastle Zone, Australian Universities, NSW U21, NSW A, Waratahs and AIS before leaving for Toyota in Japan.

He has previously been recognised through the Australian Sports Medal, the Australian Sports Commission Medal for contributions to coaching, and is a University of Newcastle Rugby Blue.

Previous Winners of the IRB Development Award:

2009 - Chai-Seng Lin

2008 - Tag Rugby Trust and Martin Hansford

2007 - Jacob Thompson

2006 - Mike Luke

2005 - Robert Antonin

2004 - Guedel Ndiaye

2003 - Tan Theany & Philippe Monnin

2002 - John Broadfoot

2001 - Kath McLean, Sir Terry McLean, Albert Farasse, John Eales

For more information, please contact: alison.hughes@irb.com

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