Stuart McCloskey and Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald claim top prizes at rugby awards
MCCLOSKEY TO SUCCESS: Stuart McCloskey is presented with the Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort Moment of the Year award on behalf of the Ireland's Triple Crown winning squad. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.
Stuart McCloskey and Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald were the toast of their peers last night as they picked up their respective Players’ Player of the Year Awards for 2026 at the Rugby Players Ireland Awards in Dublin.
For both winners, the recognition they received from the representative body for Ireland’s professional rugby players marked the completion of their individual career journeys.
Ulster and Ireland centre McCloskey, named OCC Consulting Men’s XVs Players’ Player of the Year after an outstanding campaign on both the domestic and international stage, said he could not have envisioned himself receiving such an honour 12 months ago, while for Women’s XVs Players’ Player Moloney-McDonald the award recognised the Ireland hooker’s second coming as a Test player after three years out of the national side.
McCloskey, 33, will miss Ulster’s Challenge Cup final against Montpellier in Bilbao tomorrow through injury, but he edged out an impressive shortlist featuring fellow Six Nations Triple Crown winners Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan, and last year’s Players’ Player of the Year and British & Irish Lions Player of the Series Tadhg Beirne.
“I’m not sure there’s any world in which I would have imagined myself receiving this award this time last year,” McCloskey said.
“I’ve really enjoyed this season and having the opportunity to test myself against the very best in the game.
“I’m also honoured to share the field with many great players, and to have this acknowledgment from them is very special.”
Moloney-MacDonald was named the OCC Consulting Women’s XVs Players’ Player of the Year ahead of fellow nominees and Ireland team-mates Eve Higgins and Brittany Hogan.
The Exeter Chiefs front-rower was an established international of six years when the first half of her Ireland career came to an end following her public criticism of the IRFU in 2021 when the women’s national team hit rock bottom.
She returned from exile in 2024 and earned her 50th cap during the just-completed Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
“It feels like I’ve had two different careers with Ireland,” she said.
“It hasn’t been an easy road at times, but the team is now in a great place and well positioned to become a real force at the top of the women’s game. I’m proud to have played my part over the years and, while the award feels like a full circle moment, I know there is plenty of road in the journey to go.”
The ceremony at the Clayton Burlington Hotel also saw retiring Connacht fly-half Jack Carty receive the Zurich Contribution to Irish Society Award in recognition of his continued advocacy and community engagement, as well as his work across Tackle Your Feelings and other charitable causes, as well as his establishment of his businesses Cognitive Blends and Project Padel.
The MSL Mercedes-Benz Ballsbridge Men’s XVs Try of the Year went to Ulster wing Rob Baloucoune for his score against Italy during the Six Nations, while Eve Higgins claimed the AIB Women’s XVs Try of the Year following a memorable breakaway score against Japan during Ireland’s World Cup campaign.
Nominated in three different categories, Robyn O’Connor capped a debut international season by winning the Energia Women’s XVs Young Player of the Year, with Ulster Rugby’s Bryn Ward named the Nevin Spence Men’s XVs Young Player of the Year Award.
Megan Burns was named the Triton Lake Women’s 7s Player of the Year, while the Ireland men’s Six Nations Triple Crown saw the team win the Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort Moment of the Year while McCloskey’s dramatic chase-down tackle of England’s Marcus Smith at Twickenham served as the defining image of the campaign.
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