Ebbw Vale's John Bowd has won the award for Principality Premiership Player of the Month for November.
The 26 year old flanker and no 8 has been at the heart of Ebbw Vale's recent success in occupying the top spot in the Principality Premiership.
The Gwent side are currently in second place behind Newport but could top the Premiership again this weekend if they beat Maesteg at home and other results go their way.
Bowd, whose father John played prop for many years for Abertillery RFC, follows on from Neath's Aled Bevan and Cardiff's Tom James in collecting Principality awards so far this season. He played centre in his younger days for Abertillery and Newbridge before a spell in New Zealand. He also captained Wales Youth at centre.
John will receive £100 in a Principality Building Society account as a result of his performances. Natalie Millett, manager of the Principality's Ebbw Vale branch, who presented the cheque to John said,
"Congratulations to John on winning this award and to the team for a fantastic run of results recently. To lie second in the table is a wonderful achievement and I wish them well for the rest of the season.
"Principality Building Society prides itself on being at the heart of the local community, much in the same way as rugby clubs, up and down the country. That's why the partnership between Principality Building Society and the Premiership competition is so successful and we're delighted to be able to support our local heroes in this way."
Ebbw Vale head coach Alex Codling said:
"John has made a huge impact on the team this year. He fought back from injury at the end of last season and since then had shown impeccable professionalism both on and off the field.
"He has been dominant in our recent performances and it's great that John has received this recognition for his hard work.
He is a great inspiration for the younger players in our squad, the likes of 18 year old Dan Lydiate who plays alongside John in the back row - it's important to have good role models for our younger players to look up to."
Despite a good run of runs to look forward to over the Christmas period, Codling is looking no further than Ebbw's home match against Maesteg on Saturday.
"In rugby as a player and now as a coach, you learn not to look too far ahead. We haven't got a huge squad but Pat (Horgan) and I are working hard to keep up the momentum of the last month or so.
"If we continue to do that and keep our feet on the ground, the league table will take care of itself. But we have certainly laid down a good base to push on from as we get to the half way point in the season.
"We are very lucky at Ebbw Vale, we have the best supporters in the League and hopefully they will come out in force to give the players a boost on Saturday and at our other games over the festive period."
John Bowd fact file
D.O.B. 29/04/1980
Place of Birth Pontypool
Club Ebbw Vale RFC
Position Back Row / Flanker
Player most admired: Richie McCaw
Sportsman most admired Joe Calzaghe
Biggest impact on career: Father and playing in NZ
Occupation Fitter Turner
Unusual Fact: Played for Karaka in NZ and Counties Manakaw
