Springbok No 8 Duane Vermeulen was the star of the annual South African Rugby Union Player of the Year Awards when he walked off with three awards, including the main award of the season.

Vermeulen was named SARU Rugby Player of the Year after an extensive voting process, which included the country’s rugby media and the public through SARU’s online and social media platforms.

The 28-year-old Vermeulen, who will captain the Stormers this year, also won the coveted SARPA Players’ Player of the Year and Super Rugby Player of the Year Awards for 2014.

“Duane has been outstanding in 2014 and these awards are just reward for the excellent form he showed last year, as one of the Springboks’ key performers and for the Stormers,” said SARU President, Oregan Hoskins.

Hot on Vermeulen’s heels, with two awards, was young Springbok flyhalf and Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard.

Pollard, one of the five nominees for the main award, was named Young Player and SA Under-20 Player of the Year after some stirring performances in his debut season for the Boks and during the Junior World Championship in New Zealand.

The outstanding Springbok Sevens and Women’s Players of the Year were Seabelo Senatla and Fundiswa Plaatjie, neither of whom could not attend the glittering ceremony at Vodacom World in Midrand because of their participation in two Sevens tournaments in New Zealand and Brazil this weekend.

Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje was named as scorer of the Supersport Try of the Year for 2014, voted for by their commentators, for his sublime solo-effort against the Crusaders in a highly-entertaining Vodacom Super Rugby Match in Bloemfontein.

Western Province walked away with the award for Team of the Year for their superb Currie Cup Premier Division campaign, while the Golden Lions’ Johan Ackermann was named Absa Coach of the Year for the way in which he galvanised the team from Johannesburg to be a force to be reckoned with.

On the domestic competition scene, the winners in the various categories were Nizaam Carr of Western Province (Currie Cup Premier Division), Boela Abrahams of the Down Touch Griffons (Currie Cup First Division), Renaldo Bothma of the Pumas (Vodacom Cup), Michael Nienaber of Rustenburg Impala (Community Cup) and Curwin Bosch of Eastern Province (Craven Week Player of the Year).

Mr Hoskins congratulated all the winners and applauded their achievements in 2014 on behalf of the South African Rugby Union.

“It was a good year for South African rugby and with the Rugby World Cup on the horizon, I think our rugby landscape looks very healthy,” said Mr Hoskins.

“Who will forget the Springboks’ epic victory over the All Blacks in Johannesburg, the Junior Springboks beating their Kiwi counterparts twice in the Junior World Championship in New Zealand and the Springbok Sevens’ golden moment at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland?

“Those were just some of the magic moments from a season where the Sharks clinched a top two spot on the Super Rugby log, Western Province beat the Golden Lions in a brilliant Currie Cup final and the Griffons laid hands on silverware for the first time since 2008.

“As we prepare for what promises to be a massive year ahead, I would like to congratulate every winner on their awards, but would also like to thank every player, coach, administrator, referee, sponsor and all other role players for making 2014 a season to remember.”

The winners and finalists (where applicable) in all the categories for 2014 are:

SARU Rugby Player of the Year: Duane Vermeulen

Finalists: Nizaam Carr, Marcell Coetzee, Willie le Roux, Handré Pollard

Young Player of the Year: Handré Pollard

Finalists: Nizaam Carr, Cheslin Kolbe, Seabelo Senatla, Jan Serfontein

SARPA Players’ Player of the Year: Duane Vermeulen (Stormers, Springboks)

Springbok Sevens Player of the Year: Seabelo Senatla

Finalists: Branco du Preez, Frankie Horne

SA Under-20 Player of the Year: Handré Pollard

Finalists: Thomas du Toit, Jesse Kriel

Team of the Year: Western Province (Currie Cup)

Finalists: Springboks, Junior Springboks, Springbok Sevens, Xerox Golden Lions (Currie Cup)

Coach of the Year: Johann Ackermann (Golden Lions)

Finalists: Allister Coetzee (Stormers & Western Province), Neil Powell (Springbok Sevens)

Super Rugby Player of Year: Duane Vermeulen (Stormers)

Finalists: Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), Warren Whiteley (Lions)

Vodacom Cup Player of the Year: Renaldo Bothma (Pumas)

Finalists: Jonathan Francke (Griquas), Lizo Gqoboka (EP Kings)

Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year: Nizaam Carr (Western Province)

Finalists: Juan de Jongh (Western Province), Jaco Kriel (Golden Lions)

Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year: Boela Abrahams (Griffons)

Finalists: Sylvian Mahuza (Leopards), Dillon Smit (Leopards)

Supersport Try of the Year: Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje (Cheetahs v Crusaders, Super Rugby)

Finalists: Cornal Hendricks (Cheetahs v Blues, Super Rugby), Nathan Nel (UCT v Pukke, Varsity Cup Final), Seabelo Senatla (Western Province v Blue Bulls, Currie Cup), Juan de Jongh (Western Province v Blue Bulls, Currie Cup) and Corné Fourie (Lions v Cheetahs, Super Rugby)

Referee Award: Craig Joubert

Women’s Achiever of the Year: Fundiswa Plaatjie

Community Cup Player of the Tournament: Michael Nienaber (Rustenburg Impala)

Craven Week Player of the Tournament: Curwin Bosch (Eastern Province)