A photograph featuring Samoa international Seilala Mapusua scoring a try for English club London Irish against Leicester Tigers, taken by Action Images' Henry Browne, has won the IRB/Emirates Airline Rugby Photograph of the Year 2009 competition.
Both Browne and Mapusua attended the announcement made at Twickenham World Rugby Museum today during the launch of the IRB World Rugby Yearbook 2010, which features the shortlisted photographs and the winning entry in a special section.
The winning image, entitled 'The Flying Samoan' and taken at the Madejski Stadium on March 1, 2009, captures perfectly the sheer passion and enjoyment that can be found in Rugby and the special relationship that players share with their fans.
View the IRB/Emirates Airline Rugby Photograph of the Year 2009
Audio:
- Seilala Mapusua - 'The Flying Samoan'
- Paul Morgan, Editor Rugby World & IRB Yearbook, Chairman Judging Panel
"This image of an elite athlete at the top of his game clearly loving the sport he plays is something which will inspire youngsters to be part of Rugby, and captures an essential element of our Game," said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
"Henry's picture evokes great emotion and reflects all that is good about Rugby. Rugby is a sport with a rich heritage of fair play, respect, camaraderie, teamwork and friendship and these qualities remain integral to the Spirit of Rugby, the category by which the photographs were judged."
The picture was chosen from more than 500 entries received from professional and amateur photographers in 28 countries by a panel of judges including Paul Morgan (Editor, Rugby World), sports photographers Dave Rogers (Getty Images) and Patrick Eagar, Barry Newcombe (Sports Journalists' Association), Joelle Watkins (Emirates Airline Corporate Communications Manager) and Jim Drewett (Vision Sport Publishing).
The panel selected a shortlist of six photographs from the record entry, before finally confirming Browne's picture as the winner. He follows in the footsteps of Morgan Treacy's "Mud, glorious mud", Andrew Orchard's "Commitment" and Matthew Impey's "Gladiator" as winners of the prestigious competition.
"I was very surprised to hear I had won, it was brilliant news. It was just a great try picture, as soon as I had taken it I thought that is a brilliant picture. He was clean through to score so I thought he was going to do something like that, but it came out really well. There are some good ones in the shortlist, I like the Clive Rose one, the Winners Circle, I think that is a really nice shot. That is probably my favourite out of them," said winning photographer Browne.
His prize is an all inclusive trip for two to the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens on 4-5 December, the opening tournament of the record-breaking 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series, courtesy of Emirates Airline.
You can view the five runners-up by clicking on the links below:
Image One - Rich Kid
By Jeremy Duxbury, Navuso High School in Fiji
Image Two - Friendship Over Rivalry
By Warren Little, Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens at The Sevens on November 28, 2008
Image Three - Winners Circle
By Clive Rose, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 at The Sevens in Dubai on March 7, 2009
Image Four - The Flying Hair Bear
By Christiaan Kotze, South Africa v British & Irish Lions second Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on June 27, 2009
Image Five - Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
By Warren Little, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 at The Sevens in Dubai on March 7, 2009
The IRB World Rugby Yearbook 2010, now in its fifth year, is an essential guide for any Rugby fan providing an 'access all areas' ticket to the global game.
The Yearbook features an insider's guide to the British & Irish Lions Tour to South Africa from former Lion and 2009 Tour Manager Gerald Davies, a reflection of the IOC decision to include Rugby Sevens in the Olympic Games and a review of Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai.
In addition there are contributions from Scott Quinnell, Paul Wallace, Will Greenwood and Paul Morgan with Brian O'Driscoll becoming the first Irishman to grace the cover, following Dan Carter, John Smit and Shane Williams.
