Philips Sports Manager of the Year 2009 Philips Sports Manager of the Year 2009 The Philips Sports Manager of the Year Awards for 2009 were held on Wednesday, 9 December at the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. Declan Kidney won the award for the second consecutive year after guiding Ireland to their first Six Nations Championship since 1985, and their first Grand Slam since 1948, following up with an unbeaten autumn season against Australia, Argentina and Fiji. Kidney had won the monthly award twice during the year. Also honoured for their achievements in 2009 were Heineken Cup-winning coach with Leinster Rugby Michael Cheika, League of Ireland-winning manager Pat Fenlon,
Grand Slam (rugby union) term came into use. It is also applied to the 1908 and 1909 seasons, when matches with France took place during, but outside of, the then Home Nations Championships. However the Grand Slam honour is not applied to seasons in which only the four home nations were involved (1883–1907 and 1932–1939) – in that case a team that won all its matches is said to have achieved the Triple Crown. This honour is still competed for between the four home nations within the Six Nations Championship, and any Grand Slam-winning home nation will necessarily also win the Triple Crown. A