Irish eyeing another win over ABs

It's a strange that the men's Irish rugby team could win more at New Zealand's premier sporting awards than the All Blacks.

But after the finalists were announced for the 2019 Halberg Awards, that might just be the case.

Kiwi-born Irish coach Joe Schmidt has been named as a finalist for coach of the year, while not a single link to the All Blacks' 15-player code could be seen across the six categories.

Schmidt masterminded his team's second victory over the All Blacks in November last year, in a slightly disappointing year for Steve Hansen's troops.

The All Blacks also lost to the Springboks in Wellington in September.

It's the first time since 2007 that neither an All Blacks player, coach, or the team as a whole has made the final shortlist.

New Zealand Rugby's hopes for taking home an award on February 21 depends on the men's and women's sevens teams, who are both up for Team of the Year, as well as

Allan Bunting and Clark Laidlaw, who are finalists alongside Schmidt for coach of the year.

The majority of the categories are

dominated by wider codes, with the likes of Winter Olympics heroes Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Nico Porteous up for Sportswoman and Sportsman

of the Year respectively, and two of the four finalists in the Sportsman of the Year category being motorsport athletes.