Bristol Bears winger Gabriel Ibitoye’s star continues to rise as the explosive back has been named October’s Gallagher Player of the Month.
Ibitoye becomes the second Bears player to win the league’s player of the month award this season following in the footsteps of full-back Max Malins who was crowned the Premiership’s best player in September as the Bears have exceeded pundits’ expectations to win four of their first six games to sit in third in the table, just one point off leaders Bath.
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After a blistering start to the new campaign Ibitoye has also been tipped to be named in England A’s squad to face Australia A at the Stoop on November 17 along with clubmates Gabriel Oghre and Joe Batley, with Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam tipping his men for greater honours.
Ibitoye won 48 percent of the public poll for the October Player of the Month award ahead of Gloucester Rugby scrum-half Tomos Williams, Saracens number eight Tom Willis and Leicester Tigers back-row Olly Cracknell.
After six rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Ibitoye is joint top of the try-scoring charts having added four tries during October’s Gallagher Premiership Rugby action. This included a breathtaking nine-minute hat-trick in Bristol’s remarkable comeback victory over Exeter Chiefs in Round Four.
The 26-year-old also ranked top for metres made in October and was among the top five players for defenders beaten, clean breaks and offloads in what was a stunning ‘highlight reel’ month for the winger, with England head coach Steve Borthwick noting his impressive form in recent interviews.
Will Davies, Account Manager at Gallagher, said: “It is a pleasure to present this Gallagher Player of the Month trophy to Gabriel who has played brilliantly so far during this season. Bristol Bears have momentum behind them at the moment and Gabriel is a big driving force in that respect. Gabriel’s talent on the pitch hasn’t gone unnoticed so far this season and I’ve no doubt that he will continue to play well.”
The shortlist was voted for by a panel of media professionals.
The judges for the 2024/25 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season are: Jill Douglas (ITV, BBC), Ali Eykyn (TNT Sports), Hugh Godwin (i), Chris Jones (BBC), Alex Lowe (The Times), Gavin Mairs (Telegraph), Ugo Monye (BBC, TNT Sports), Nick Mullins (TNT Sports) and Claire Thomas (BBC, TNT Sports).