Ex-All Black makes history with PRO14 coaching award

Milan - Former All Black fullback Kieran Crowley has become the first coach of an Italian team to win the European PRO14 rugby championship's coaching award for his work transforming Benetton Treviso.

READ: Cheetahs duo scoop PRO14 awards

The 57-year-old New Zealander arrived in north eastern Italy in 2016 and this season made history by guiding the team to the PRO14 playoffs for the first time.

Benetton Treviso's brave bid to reach the semi-finals of the PRO14 ended in an agonising 15-13 loss away to Irish province Munster in Limerick on Saturday.

"It's an honour for me to receive this award, the fruit of three years of programming and hard work by the whole team," said Crowley.

"When I arrived in Treviso, our sporting director Antonio Pavanello asked me first of all to train people and to build a rugby culture that could give life to a project and today we can say that we are at a good point.

"We need to become aware of what we have demonstrated and use it as a starting point for what we will do in the future."

The PRO14 championship takes in the leading clubs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and two South African teams.

Crowley won 19 caps for New Zealand as a fullback and was part of the 1987 World Cup-winning squad.

He previously had success with his former club Taranaki, and the 2007 world champion New Zealand under-19s, before coaching Canada for eight years, leading them to the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.

He took over a Treviso side struggling on a run of 23 consecutive defeats.

List of winners:

Players' Player of the Year: Bill Mata (Edinburgh Rugby)

Coach of the Season: Kieran Crowley (Benetton Rugby)

PRO14 Chairman’s Award: Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby)

Next-Gen Star of the Season: Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors)

Golden Boot: Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh Rugby)

Top Try-scorer: Rabz Maxwane (Cheetahs)

Tackle Machine: James King (Ospreys Rugby)

Turnover King: Olly Robinson (Cardiff Blues)

Iron Man: Tian Schoeman (Cheetahs)