Buckley Chosen As Connacht Player Of The Month

Denis Buckley was selected as one of three nominees by the management team for his hard work and commitment both on and off the pitch during the month of September.

He was then applauded across social media and won the highest number of votes from the Connacht Rugby supporters.

Hailing from Roscommon, Buckley came through the Connacht Academy under Nigel Carolan and made his senior debut in September 2011 against Benetton Treviso. The 24-year-old has since notched up 53 appearances for his home province.

Last month, he started in the number 1 jersey for all four PRO12 games, against the Newport Gwent Dragons, Edinburgh, Leinster and Glasgow Warriors.

Connacht recorded three victories during the month with Buckley delivering a man-of-the-match performance in the 16-11 win over the Dragons at the Sportsground.

Commenting on the September Player of the Month, Connacht assistant coach Dan McFarland said: “Denis has started this season with the same enthusiasm and upward learning curve that he finished last season. He is a young player determined to succeed and it’s been a pleasure to watch his hard work pay off over these last few weeks.”

Richard Hartmann, Director of Hartmann Jewellers, added: “All of us at Hartmanns are delighted to be supporting the Connacht Rugby Player of the Month award again this year in association with our partners Seiko Ireland.

“Seiko watches have come on board this season to promote the fantastic new PROSPEX collection and are proud to be associated with Connacht Rugby.

“It’s been a great start to the season with many players performing brilliantly over the first month. We are delighted for Denis to win the award on this occasion.

“This is his second Player of the Month award and is fully deserved. He has been a consistent performer over the past few weeks and if he keeps up this high level I’ve no doubt that we’ll be seeing him in the green of Ireland before too long.”