DHL Stormers leaders up for top award
DHL Stormers captain Siya Kolisi and vice-captain Eben Etzebeth have both been nominated for the SA Rugby Player of the Year 2017 award.
DHL Western Province have been nominated for team of the year, with coach John Dobson up for coach of the year in SA Rugby’s annual awards for 2017.
Dobson oversaw a DHL Western Province team that went unbeaten to claim the inaugural SuperSport Rugby Challenge title, before going on to win the Currie Cup for a record 34th time.
There were also two nominations for talented young flyhalf Damian Willemse who is up for both the Young Player and Junior Springbok Player of the Year.
DHL Western Province’s Juarno Augustus, who was already crowned the World Rugby U20 Championship Player of the Tournament in June, is up against his SA U20 team-mates Willemse and Curwin Bosch for the Junior Springbok Player of the Year award.
There were two DHL Western Province players nominated as Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year, with flyhalf Robert du Preez and No.8 Nizaam Carr both up for the award, whilst DHL Western Province’s Craig Barry was nominated for SuperSport Rugby Challenge Player of the Year.
Currie Cup-winning DHL Western Province wing Werner Kok was also nominated as Steinhoff Springbok Sevens Player of the Year award.
Other categories where awards will be made are: Supersport Try of the Year, Coca-Cola Craven Week Player of the Tournament, Outsurance Referee of the Year and Springbok Women’s Achiever of the Year, while Graham Knoop of DirectAxis False Bay was already named Club Player of the Year after the Gold Cup final last month.
The names of the winners will be announced early in the new season next year.
The nominees are (in alphabetical order):
SA Rugby Player of the Year
1 Eben Etzebeth
2 Siya Kolisi
3 Jaco Kriel
4 Malcolm Marx
5 Jan Serfontein
SA Rugby Young Player of the Year
1 Curwin Bosch
2 Jean-Luc du Preez
3 Warrick Gelant
4 Malcolm Marx
5 Damian Willemse
Team of the Year
1 Emirates Lions (Vodacom Super Rugby runners up)
2 Springbok Sevens (HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series winners)
3 DHL Western Province (Currie Cup Premier Division and Supersport Rugby Challenge winners)
Coach of the Year
1 Johan Ackermann (Emirates Lions)
2 John Dobson (DHL Western Province)
3 Neil Powell (Springbok Sevens)
Steinhoff Springbok Sevens Player of the Year
1 Chris Dry
2 Werner Kok
3 Rosko Specman
Junior Springbok Player of the Year
1 Juarno Augustus
2 Curwin Bosch
3 Damian Willemse
Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Tournament
1 Jaco Kriel (Emirates Lions)
2 Malcolm Marx (Emirates Lions)
3 Franco Mostert (Emirates Lions)
Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year
1 Nizaam Carr (DHL Western Province)
2 Robert du Preez (DHL Western Province)
3 Warrick Gelant (Vodacom Blue Bulls)
Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year
1 Jaun Kotze (Down Touch Griffons)
2 Tertius Maarman (Down Touch Griffons)
3 Jeandré Rudolph (Leopards)
SuperSport Rugby Challenge Player of the Year
1 Craig Barry (DHL Western Province)
2 Enver Brandt (Tafel Lager Griquas)
3 Shaun Reynolds (Xerox Golden Lions XV)
