Three experienced Springboks – Lukhanyo Am, Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi – were nominated for the coveted SA Rugby Player of the Year Award for 2022 for a second consectutive year.
SA Rugby announced the nominees in nine categories on Wednesday and the winners will be named in 2023, along with the annual Referee of the Year and the Provincial Women’s Player of the Year.
Springbok captain Kolisi won the award for a stellar 2021 season and along with Etzebeth, who became the seventh player to earn his 100th Springbok Test cap this year, and Am, whose influence was crucial before he picked up a season-ending injury in August, the trio were central to the Boks’ efforts in 2022.
They will be up against Kurt-Lee Arendse and Frans Malherbe after the quintet of Boks earned the most votes in the nomination process.
Former Blitzbok star Arendse was sublime in his debut season for the Boks and scored seven tries in as many Tests, while the ever-reliant Malherbe, who played in his 50th Test this year, was a rock in the pack and he quietly went about his job of putting the Boks on the front-foot from first phase.
For the first time, media and SA Rugby stakeholders also voted for the Springbok Women’s Player of the Year, and the five nominees all played in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in October – last year’s winner Lusanda Dumke, 2019 winner Aseza Hele, as well as Zintle Mpupha, Aphiwe Ngwevu and Nadine Roos.
The next generation of national players were nominated in the category for Young Player of the Year, which only takes into consideration U23s. They are Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Jaden Hendrikse, Canan Moodie, Evan Roos and Henco van Wyk.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was also nominated in the category for Junior Springbok Player of the Year after he led the SA Under-20s to an unbeaten run in the Six Nations U20 Summer Series in Italy, while Suleiman Hartzenberg and Ruan Venter were also nominated for this award.
And the three Blitzboks who were nominated for the Springbok Sevens Player of the Year Award are Selvyn Davids, Zain Davids and JC Pretorius.
After a good season in which they won eight Test out of 13 and had close defeats to the top two teams in the world, the Springboks were nominated as one of the three Teams of the Year, with the DHL Stormers, winners of the inaugural Vodacom United Rugby Championship, and the Carling Currie Cup champions, the Airlink Pumas, the two other nominated sides.
These three teams’ coaches, John Dobson (DHL Stormers), Jacques Nienaber (Springboks) and Jimmy Stonehouse (Pumas) also got the most votes in the category for Coach of the Year.
The Airlink Pumas’ domestic triumph was reflected in the nominations for Carling Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year, with three men from Mpumalanga up against each other for the award – Sebastiaan de Klerk, Willie Engelbrecht and Devon Williams.
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The nominees are (in alphabetical order):
SA Rugby Player of the Year
Lukhanyo Am
Kurt-Lee Arendse
Eben Etzebeth
Siya Kolisi
Frans Malherbe
Springbok Women’s Player of the Year
Lusanda Dumke
Aseza Hele
Zintle Mpupha
Aphiwe Ngwevu
Nadine Roos
SA Rugby Young Player of the Year
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Junior Springboks / South Africa ‘A’ / Stormers)
Jaden Hendrikse (Springboks / Sharks)
Canan Moodie (Springboks / Vodacom Bulls)
Evan Roos (Springboks / Stormers)
Henco van Wyk (South Africa ‘A’ / Lions)
Springbok Sevens Player of the Year
Selvyn Davids
Zain Davids
JC Pretorius
Junior Springbok Player of the Year
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Suleiman Hartzenberg
Ruan Venter
Team of the Year
Airlink Pumas
DHL Stormers
Springboks
Coach of the Year
John Dobson (Stormers)
Jacques Nienaber (Springboks)
Jimmy Stonehouse (Pumas)
Carling Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year
Sebastiaan de Klerk (Pumas)
Willie Engelbrecht (Pumas)
Devon Williams (Pumas)
Carling Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year
Jaiden Baron (Boland Kavaliers)
Jaywinn Juries (Griffons)
Duan Pretorius (Griffons)
Photo: Twitter: @Springboks
