Cast Your Vote For Hurley

This year’s IRUPA (Irish Rugby Union Players Association) Awards take place on Wednesday May 13th and you can cast your vote for Munster’s Denis Hurley in the ‘3’ Unsung Hero category.

Hurley could become the third Munster player in as many years to receive the accolade from the general rugby public, following on from Billy Holland in 2013 and James Coughlan last year.

A product of the Munster Academy, Denis made his first competitive start for Munster against Llanelli Scarlets in Stradey Park in May 2006, but it wasn’t until the 2007/08 season that the Cork-man made his major breakthrough for the province.

With just seven senior caps to his name, the then 23 year old was preferred to Munster stalwart Shaun Payne for the Heineken Cup quarter final clash with Gloucester at Kingsholm. Declan Kidney kept faith with the young full-back for both the semi-final against Saracens and the final against Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff where Munster won their second European title.

Since then, the ever dependable and versatile Hurley has featured across the Munster backline, helping the province to PRO12 titles in 2009 and 2011 and a famous win over Australia at Thomond Park in 2010. In total, the Cork Constitution clubman has amassed 150 caps in the red of Munster – the third most appearances of the current squad after Donncha O’Callaghan and Paul O’Connell, scoring 14 tries along the way.

More recently, Denis captained the province for the first time in February, leading Munster to a 33-16 win over Cardiff Blues at Irish Independent Park. In the absence of squad captain Peter O’Mahony for the duration of the RBS 6 Nations, the 30 year old retained the captaincy for the next four games, combining well with the returning Keith Earls in the midfield. Under the stewardship of Hurley, Earls ran in three tries in as many games and Munster consolidated their PRO12 play-off position.

Commenting on his recent stint as captain, the ever unassuming Denis said, "I'm surrounded by lads who have been around the game a long time, Donncha O'Callaghan our most capped player and there's a couple of other internationals around me in the back line as well so it's not a difficult task in that sense. These lads know the ins and outs of the game and there's never any quite moment in the dressing room where everyone is looking at me. Instead it's a good group work ethic – I give some guidance with others adding their own bits and that's been great."

Nominated alongside Ulster's Callum Black and Leinster’s Darragh Fanning for the IRUPA ‘3’ Unsung Hero Award, you can vote for Denis by tweeting ‘Denis Hurley’ to @ThreeIrlRugby and using the hashtag #3UnsungHero. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on May 13th.

Meanwhile Munster’s Paul O’Connell and Conor Murray have been nominated for the IRUPA Hibernia College Player’s Player of the Year Award with Felix Jones in contention for the IRUPA Hibernia College Medal for Excellence. Click here for full award details.