Cooney and McCloskey selected in Guinness PRO14 Dream Team

Ulster pair John Cooney and Stuart McCloskey have been named in the Guinness PRO14 Dream Team for the 2018/19 season. The final selection was revealed on Premier Sports and eir Sport after a media vote determined the best performing players from the current campaign. Cooney is one of only three players from last season’s Guinness PRO14 Dream Team to have been re-selected, with Cooney’s impressive performances keeping him in the number 9 jersey, while the second row pairing of Tadhg Beirne (Munster) and Scott Vardy (Leinster) get the nod again. In total, 11 clubs are represented in a XV where competition in the voting was incredibly close, and only a handful of positions were selected with a clear majority. Edinburgh, Munster, Connacht and Ulster were the only teams with more than one player in the Dream Team, which includes the Guinness Players’ Player of the Season Bill Mata (Edinburgh). Rabz Maxwane of the Toyota Cheetahs is another award winner included, the Toyota Cheetahs winger scored a record-equalling 14 tries in the Guinness PRO14 season – nine of them scored away from home – and was voted in as the left wing. The team was revealed on a TV Special aired by Premier Sports and eir sport on Thursday night (May 23) where Rory Lawson, Sean Holley, Luke Fitzgerald and Murray Kinsella dissected and debated about who deserved their places and who was unlucky to miss out. Eric O'Sullivan, Rob Herring and Marcell Coetzee were among those nominated. GUINNESS PRO14 DREAM TEAM 2018/19 1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh) 2. Ken Owens (Scarlets) 3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 5. Scott Fardy (Leinster) 6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster) 7. Colby Fainga'a (Connacht) 8. Bill Mata (Edinburgh) 9. John Cooney (Ulster) 10. Jack Carty (Connacht) 11. Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs) 12. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) 13. Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues) 14. Monty Ioane (Benetton Rugby) 15. Dan Evans (Ospreys)