2009 Six Nations Championship their arrival at Dublin Airport. Brian O'Driscoll described 21 March as a “sweet, sweet day”. The game was watched by 945,000 people in Ireland, the highest rating television programme in the country by that stage of 2009. Former coach Eddie O'Sullivan was said to be "delighted" for the team. Brian O'Driscoll was named player of the tournament, beating Italy's Sergio Parisse and Ireland teammate Paul O'Connell. O'Connell was later named captain of the British and Irish Lions team to tour South Africa and containing fourteen members of the Grand Slam winning Irish team on 21 April 2009, describing it as
2009 Grand Slam of Darts Darin Young won £4,725 from PDC tournaments in North America, meaning he topped the North American Order of Merit and was awarded a place in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts. The European Order of Merit ranks all the European dart players based on the amount of prize money that they have won from tournaments held in continental Europe. Vincent van der Voort won £7,600 from PDC tournaments in continental Europe, meaning he topped the European Order of Merit and was awarded a place in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts. The ITV Wildcard qualifier was held on 6 November