Blair Cowan scoops Waltons Jewellers’ Player of the Month Award

London Irish has teamed up with Waltons Jewellers to establish the Waltons Jewellers’ London Irish Player of the Month Award and Blair Cowan is the first recipient for his performances throughout September.

The first winner of a monthly award voted for by the London Irish coaching team, the experienced back row has scooped the gong following a succession of impressive outings and receives a Citizen watch as a result.

Cowan, 31, who recently penned a new deal with the Exiles, is relishing every minute of his time at London Irish.

“I would firstly like to thank Waltons Jewellers and London Irish for the award,” said Cowan, who formed a formidable partnership with Mike Coman in the opening day victory over Harlequins.

“It’s great to be back in the Aviva Premiership and I’m keen to help London Irish progress to the next level.

“I’ve been working closely with the coaches and they know me as a player so that has really helped me to continue playing my own game and I’ve really bought into what they’re trying to do.”

Cowan topped the tackle charts for London Irish in September with 70 tackles together with impressive statistics in a number of other areas as well as scoring a try against Leicester Tigers.

Explaining his decision to reward the former Scotland international, Exiles’ director of rugby Nick Kennedy said: “When considering our Player of the Month, we look at statistics like tackles made, carries made, lineouts won and passes made. We discuss a shortlist of players as coaches before voting.

“In addition to Blair’s impressive statistics in September, he also put the team first and moved out of position from 7 to No 8 when we had a couple of injuries.

“He’s been outstanding for us so far this season.”

Chris Walton, owner of Waltons Jewellers, is looking forward to the partnership with London Irish this season: “As a local company based in Caversham, we are proud to have established the Waltons Jewellers’ London Irish Player of the Month Award and are looking forward to seeing which members of the squad win the award each month.

“Blair’s performances in September were outstanding so he is a very worthy winner of the first prize.”

The October Waltons Jewellers’ London Irish Player of the Month will be announced in the next few weeks.

With under 13s £1 throughout the stadium and adults from only £15, join us for London Irish v Bath Rugby in the Anglo-Welsh Cup at 3pm this Saturday 4 November. For tickets: www.lidirect.co.uk or call 0118 968 1016.