Pieter-Steph du Toit claims top SA Rugby award

January 24, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

Pieter-Steph du Toit capped off phenomenal 2019 season when he added the prestigious SA Rugby Player of the Year award to his World Rugby Player of the Year accolade.

Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks were also honoured for a brilliant 2019, when they won the Rugby World Cup and Rugby Championship, as well as the World Rugby Awards for Coach and Team of the Year, by walking away with the same awards in South Africa.

The 27-year-old Du Toit beat Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Duane Vermeulen to the top individual award in South African rugby.

In the process, the Springbok loose-forward became only the third player, behind Naas Botha and Bryan Habana, to take the title for a third time, after he also won it in 2016 and 2018.

Other big winners from the Boks’ RWC squad included Herschel Jantjies (Young Player of the Year) and Handré Pollard (Super Rugby Player of the Year).

The 23-year-old Jantjies, who played in 10 of Boks’ Tests in2019, arrived on the international scene like a bullet train, scoring a brace of tries in his Test debut against the Wallabies in Johannesburg, as well as a crucial five-pointer in the drawn Test against New Zealand in Wellington.

Pollard, the top points’ scorer at the RWC in Japan, walked away with the award for Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year. His 194 season points were the most in 2019 as the Springbok pivot helped steer the Vodacom Bulls to the quarter-finals.

Springbok Sevens Player of the Year, Siviwe Soyizwapi, had a stellar year for the Blitzboks, finishing the 2018/19 season as leading try-scorer and playing in all 10 tournaments. He took over the captaincy from injured Philip Snyman halfway through the season and in that capacity lifted trophies in Vancouver and Singapore.

Junior Springbok Player of the Year, Jaden Hendrikse, was a key figure in the SA U20s’ 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship campaign in Argentina, with his accurate goal-kicking and play-making abilities earning him a regular place in the starting line-up. His consistently effective displays also earned him a nomination for the breakthrough player of the tournament award.

Aseza Hele (No 8), the Springbok Women’s Achiever of the Year, was a key figure for the national team with her powerful presence and hard running setting the field alight – skills that proved valuable in the team’s qualification for the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Livewire hooker Joseph Dweba was a standout for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs as they won the Currie Cup and was deservedly named Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year, while Cody Basson, tough-as-nails looseforward of the Down Touch Griffons won the Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year Award.

Aimee Barrett-Theron was named the Outsurance Referee of the Year. She took charge of six Test matches in 2019, which included the opening match of the Women’s Six Nations, where she will again be in action in February.

The Club Player of the Year was won for a record third time by the evergreen Leon du Plessis of Rustenburg Impala and Dylan Alexander of Western Province was the Craven Week Player of the Tournament for 2019.

In a new category, SA Wheelchair Rugby (SAWR) was named as the first recipient of the award for SA Rugby Associate Member of the Year.

All the winners and other nominees are:

SA Rugby Player of the Year: Pieter-Steph du Toit

Nominees: Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi, Duane Vermeulen.

SA Rugby Young Player of the Year: Herschel Jantjies

Nominees: Curwin Bosch, Sbu Nkosi, JJ van der Mescht, Damian Willemse.

Team of the Year: Springboks

Nominees: Toyota Free State Cheetahs, Springbok Sevens.

Coach of the Year: Rassie Erasmus

Nominees: Neil Powell, Franco Smith.

Junior Springbok Player of the Year: Jaden Hendrikse

Nominees: Phendulani Buthelezi, JJ van der Mescht.