Irish International CJ Stander and his wife Jean Marie lead pack at the Rugby Players Awards 2016

The Munster flanker, who is South African-born, was the first overseas player to be honoured with the prestigious title as his wife of three years beamed from the crowd in the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel last night.

The successful couple have been graced with a good dose of sporting talent as competitive swimmer and law graduate Jean-Marie is currently aiming to compete in Rio later this year.

“SO proud of you @CJStander . Grateful to be able to share this journey with you,” Jean Marie tweeted last night.

Although CJ was sporting a black eye at last night’s ceremony, the couple happily posed for photographs throughout the event as they get set to celebrate their third anniversary this June.

As expected, CJ and Jean Marie were joined by the host of Irish rugby royalty at the ceremony including Connacht star George Naoupau and his wife Sene, Rob Kearney and Shane Horgan to name but a few.

Ronan O’Gara was also in attendance at last night’s event, where he was inducted into the BNY Mellon Hall of Fame.