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De Villiers scoops top SA award

Wednesday 26th November 2008

Cream of the crop: De Villiers scored a brace of awards

Springbok centre Jean de Villiers was named SA Rugby Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year at an annual awards banquet on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Western Province player was the clear winner in a poll of South African rugby journalists for the SA Rugby Player of the Year title ahead of four players from the Sharks - Bismarck du Plessis, Adrian Jacobs, Ryan Kankowski and Beast Mtawarira.

De Villiers completed a memorable double as he was also awarded the prestigious Players' Player of the Year Award, voted for by members of the South African Rugby Players Association (SARPA) - the first man to complete the double since Ashwin Willemse won both in the 2003 season.

Ryan Kankowski's outstanding year was recognised with four nominations, although he had to settle for just one award as the Sharks number eight was chosen Super 14 Player of the Year.

He was also nominated for Young Player of the Year and Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year as well as for the main award.

His back row colleague, Jean Deysel, also had his devastating form in the Sharks' run to the title recognised when he was named Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year. And completing the Sharks' joy was the award of two of the three new categories introduced this year.

John Plumtree was chosen as Coach of the Year after helping the Sharks end their 12-year wait for a title with victory on the Currie Cup final, while the Sharks' Super 14 outfit was named as Team of the Year after returning to the play-offs for a second successive year.

Other big winners on the night were Free State Cheetahs centre Robert Ebersohn, who was named Young Player of the Year from a strong field as well as the U20 Player of the Year.

Kennedy Tsimba was named as Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year, six years after he was named as the Premier Division Player of the Year after his return to fitness in the Griffons' impressive surge to the First Division title.

Fly-half Burton Francis of the Blue Bulls was chosen as the Vodacom Cup Player of the Year while Ricky Januarie's score against the All Blacks in Dunedin was named as Try of the Year.

In women's rugby, Lorinda Brown of Eastern Province capped a fine year in which she played for the national sevens and fifteen-a-side teams and was part of an inter-provincial title-winning side by being named as Women's Player of the Year.

All the SA Rugby Award winners:

SA Rugby Player of the Year:
Winner: Jean de Villiers (Western Province)
Also nominated: Bismarck du Plessis, Adrian Jacobs, Ryan Kankowski, Beast Mtawarira (all Sharks).

Young Player of the Year:
Winner: Robert Ebersohn (Free State Cheetahs)
Also nominated: Heinrich Br�ssow (Free State Cheetahs), Ryan Kankowski, (Sharks), Nick K�ster (Western Province), Beast Mtawarira (Sharks).

Players' Player of the Year:
Winner: Jean de Villiers (Western Province)

Team of the Year:
Winner: Sharks (Super 14 team)
Also nominated: Leopards, Sharks (Currie Cup team), Blue Bulls, Stormers.

Coach of the Year:
Winner: John Plumtree (Sharks, Absa Currie Cup)
Also nominated: Eugene Eloff (Golden Lions), Rassie Erasmus (Stormers), Frans Ludeke (Blue Bulls). Chaka Willemse (Leopards).

Super 14 Player of the Year:
Winner: Ryan Kankowski (Sharks)
Also nominated: Andries Bekker, Jean de Villiers, Conrad Jantjes (all Stormers), Rory Kockott (both Sharks).

Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year:
(The outstanding player of the 2008 Absa Currie Cup Premier Division season)
Winner: Jean Deysel (Sharks)
Also nominated: Heinrich Brussow (Free State Cheetahs), Ryan Kankowski (both Sharks), Wynand Olivier (Blue Bulls), Stefan Terblanch� (Sharks).

Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year:
Winner: Kennedy Tsimba (Griffons).
Also nominated: Cecil Afrika, (Griffons), Clayton Durand (Leopards), Ashley Johnson (Griffons), Vuyo Zangqa (Leopards).

Vodacom Cup Player of the Year:
Winner: Burton Francis (Blue Bulls)
Also nominated: Isma-eel Dollie (Western Province), Rocco Jansen (Blue Bulls), Ashley Johnson and Wilton Pietersen (both Free State Cheetahs).

Try of the Year:
Winner: Ricky Januarie (SA v New Zealand, Dunedin)

Sevens Player of the Year:
Winner: Renfred Deysel