Du Toit named SA Rugby Player of the Year
SA Rugby Player of the Year winner, Pieter-Steph du Toit during the SA Rugby Player of the Year Awards.
PIETER-STEPH du Toit was named the South African Rugby Player of the Year at the South African Rugby Union awards on Monday October 24.
He became the second Springbok lock in two seasons to receive the award, following Lood de Jager’s 2015 achievement.
The Springbok and DHL Stormers lock had strong challenges for the top award from his middle row partner Eben Etzebeth, plus a trio of Boks from the Emirates Lions: Ruan Combrinck, Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley.
The Golden Lions did do exceptionally well at the Awards however, with a total of five awards heading back to Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.
The winners from the Lions are: Malcolm Marx (Young Player of the Year), Elton Jantjies (Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Tournament), Jacques Nel (Supersport Try of the Year) and Johan Ackermann (Coach of the Year) – while the ‘Pride of Jozi’, the Emirates Lions, were named Team of the Year after a superb showing in Vodacom Super Rugby.
The prestigious Players’ Player of the Year Award, presented by My Players and voted for by the players themselves, went to Jean-Luc du Preez of the Cell C Sharks – who was on Saturday included in the Springbok tour squad for the Barbarians match in London in early November.
The winners in the three categories for national teams were: Seabelo Senatla (Steinhoff Springbok Sevens Player of the Year), Curwin Bosch (Junior Springbok Player of the Year) and Marithy Pienaar (Springbok Women Player of the Year). The Outsurance Referee Award went to Rasta Rasivhenge for a second successive year.
The winners in the various competitions were: Jantjies, Ox Nche of the Toyota Free State Cheetahs (Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year), Masixole Banda of the Border Bulldogs (Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year) and DHL Western Province’s Damian Willemse, from Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch (Coca-Cola Craven Week Player of the Year).
For the first time this year, SA Rugby rewarded one of their member unions with a Best Development Award, which went to the Blue Bulls Rugby Union.
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