BBC Sport's Jim Stokes with player of the year Ronan O'Gara

Munster won the major honours at the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland awards dinner in Dublin on Monday.

Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara won player of the year, Heineken Cup champions Munster were the top team and Cork Constitution took the club award.

Two former Ireland stars were honoured with Leinster prop Sean Lynch and Munster fly-half Mike English inducted into the hall of fame.

It was the third time 31-year-old O'Gara had won the top prize.

It comes at the end of a torrid season internationally, but a sweet one on the club front.

O'Gara, like the rest of his international colleagues, was off colour during the World Cup and the Six Nations, even though he took his points tally to 835.

But he made up for that disappointment by helping Munster to their second European crown.

O'Gara's local club Cork Constitution were last season's All-Ireland Division One champions after defeating Limerick rivals Garryowen in the play-off final. It was third time they had lifted the club title.

Mick English, who won 16 caps as an enigmatic fly-half, was another Munsterman who was just as renowned for his quote following defeat by England in the late Fifties when Phil Horrocks-Taylor took Ireland apart.

English was quoted as saying: �Every time I went to tackle him, Horrocks went one way, Taylor went the other, all I got was the bloody hyphen.�

As a lively technical prop for Leinster and St Mary�s, Sean Lynch was capped 17 times by Ireland in the early Seventies and played in all four Tests during the successful Lions tour to New Zealand.

Scrummaging guru Roly Meates of Leinster received an award for his exceptional contribution to Irish rugby over 40 years.

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