Springbok centurion Eben Etzebeth has been voted SA Rugby’s Player of the Year for 2022 following a string of excellent performances last year.
Canan Moodie won the Young Player of the Year award and Nadine Roos was named Springbok Women’s Player of the Year.
The 31-year-old Etzebeth, who made his Test debut in 2012 and reached his 100th Test against Wales in July, earned the award for the first time after narrowly losing out to Springbok captain Siya Kolisi in 2021.
Last season, the towering lock was a constant star in the green and gold along with Kolisi, Lukhanyo Am, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Frans Malherbe, who were also nominated for the top award.
Moodie, who celebrated his Springbok debut in 2022 with a superb try against Australia in Sydney was nominated ahead of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Jaden Hendrikse, Evan Roos and Henco van Wyk, underlining the rich vein of talent coming through.
Roos highlighted her versatility in 2022, shining for both the national XVs and sevens teams in two Rugby World Cup tournaments, and was rewarded for her brilliant form when she was included in the World Rugby Dream Team after the RWC Sevens in Cape Town in September.
The other nominees were 2021 winner Lusanda Dumke (flanker), number eight Aseza Hele, who won the award in 2019, as well as midfield stars Zintle Mpupha and Aphiwe Ngwevu.
Hard-working forward JC Pretorius won the award for Springbok Sevens Player of the Year during a season in which the Blitzboks won four tournaments and just missed out on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title.
The other nominees were Selvyn Davids and Zain Davids.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who led the SA Under-20s to a clean sweep of four wins in the Six Nations U20 Summer Series in Italy, was named Junior Springbok Player of the Year, edging out teammates Suleiman Hartzenberg and Ruan Venter.
The DHL Stormers, who won the inaugural Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC), were voted as the Team of the Year, with John Dobson duly taking the award for Coach of the Year. Evan Roos was named Vodacom URC Player of the Season in June 2021.
The other nominees in these two categories were the Springboks and Jacques Nienaber, and the Airlink Pumas and Jimmy Stonehouse. – SARugbymag.co.za
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