SA Rugby awards

SA Rugby awards nominees. Photo: Springboks website

MUST-READ: All the SA Rugby award winners to be revealed on Thursday!

Here’s a reminder of all the nominees for the 2021 SA Rugby awards, which will culminate with the unveiling of the Player of the Year.

SA Rugby awards

SA Rugby awards nominees. Photo: Springboks website

Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and Makazole Mapimpi will battle it out for the coveted SA Rugby Player of the Year award after earning the most votes in the annual nomination process.

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The winners in the various categories of the SA Rugby Awards for 2021 will be announced on Twitter (@Springboks) from 09:30 on Thursday, 27 January, culminating with the naming of the winner of the SA Rugby Player of the Year award, at 10:30.

SA Rugby announced the nominees in eight categories last year

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All the nominees are (in alphabetical order):

SA Rugby Player of the Year
Lukhanyo Am
Damian de Allende
Eben Etzebeth
Siya Kolisi
Makazole Mapimpi

SA Rugby Young Player of the Year
Aphelele Fassi (Springboks / Cell C Sharks)
Jaden Hendrikse (Springboks / Cell C Sharks)
Jordan Hendrikse (Junior Springboks / Emirates Lions)
Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls)
Evan Roos (DHL Stormers / Western Province)

Team of the Year
Vodacom Bulls
Springboks
Springbok Sevens

Coach of the Year
Jacques Nienaber (Springboks)
Neil Powell (Springbok Sevens)
Jake White (Vodacom Bulls)

Junior Springbok Player of the Year
Jordan Hendrikse
Henco van Wyk
Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Springbok Sevens Player of the Year
Ronald Brown
Selvyn Davids
Siviwe Soyizwapi

Carling Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year
Johan Goosen (Vodacom Bulls)
Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls)
Evan Roos (DHL Western Province)

Carling Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year
Dylan Maart (Boland Kavaliers)
Anrich Richter (Valke)
Danrich Visagie (Leopards)

Castle Lager Test Try of the Year (chronological order with links to videos)

  1. Cobus Reinach – Springboks vs Georgia
  2. Makazole Mapimpi – Springboks vs British & Irish Lions
  3. Cheslin Kolbe – Springboks vs British & Irish Lions
  4. Sizophila Solontsi – Springbok Women vs Kenya
  5. Aphelele Fassi – Springboks vs Argentina
  6. Damian de Allende – Springboks vs New Zealand
  7. Malcolm Marx – Springboks vs Wales
  8. Makazole Mapimpi – Springboks vs Scotland
  9. Zintle Mpupha – Springbok Women v Wales
  10. Libbie Janse van Rensburg – Springbok Women v Wales

All the winners will be named on Thursday

Two new awards recognising women’s rugby will also be announced, the Springbok Women’s and Provincial Women’s Players of the Year, as well as the annual Referee of the Year.

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Springbok captain Kolisi, the only player to start in all 13 Tests this year, played a typical captain’s innings while Etzebeth, the most experienced member of the current Springbok squad, was one of the most consistent players this season, often leading the charge of the pack.

Am and De Allende, who have now started together as Bok centre partners in 22 Tests, formed a lethal midfield combination, often opening up space on the outside for Mapimpi to score, with the Bok speedster scoring six tries this year.

After a good year in which they won the British & Lions Series, beat the All Blacks and won two of their three Tests in November, the Springboks and their head coach, Jacques Nienaber, are also up for awards and will square off against the Blitzboks and Neil Powell, as well as the Currie Cup-winning Bulls and Jake White for the Team and Coach of the Year awards.

The Hendrikse brothers, Jaden and Jordan, are two of the five nominees in the category for Young Player of the Year, where they will face stiff opposition from Aphelele Fassi, and two of the best young loose forwards in the country in Elrigh Louw and Evan Roos.

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Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) and Fassi (fullback) earned their first Springbok caps this year (both scoring tries on debut for South Africa), while Jordan Hendrikse was nominated in a second category, the Junior Springbok Player of the Year, along with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Henco van Wyk.

The Blitzboks – winners of four tournaments in 2021 – finished the year on a very high note and the competition for Springbok Sevens Player of the Year will be tightly contested between one of their bright new stars in Ronald Brown, as well as the experienced duo of Selvyn Davids and Siviwe Soyizwapi, captain of the national sevens side.

Capping off a fine season, Louw (Bulls) and Roos (WP) also feature in two categories and will be up against each other for the Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year, against Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen.

In the final category, Dylan Maart (Boland Kavaliers), Anrich Richter (Valke) and Danrich Visagie (Leopards) are up against each other for the Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year.

An exciting new category was added to the roster this year, namely the Test Try of the Year, where supporters will have the final say in who walks away with this accolade.

Included on the list of nominees – all of which can be viewed below – are tries by De Allende, Mapimpi, Fassi, and Cheslin Kolbe, as well as Springbok Women’s players Zintle Mpupha and Libbie Janse van Rensburg.

To vote for your winner, CLICK HERE.

An award for the Player of the United Rugby Championship will be made at the conclusion of the competition next year.

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