FOLLOWING a win against nemesis England, RWC Boks stars feature in the World Rugby Awards categories.
The green and gold beat the Three- Lions 29-20 at Twickenham in London, on Saturday, to make it two-out two wins.
The next assignment is against Wales at Cardiff on Saturday, to wrap up the series.
Added bonus, four Boks players have been nominated in the awards to be held on Sunday at Monaco, a day after Welsh game.
Men’s 15s Player of the Year category features Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year category will be contested bySacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The Bok trio are up against Caelan Doris of Ireland.
Feinberg- Mngomezulu is nominated against Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (England), Jamie Osborne (Ireland) and Wallace Sititi (New Zealand), respectively.
Coach Rassie Erasmus who was not happy with the win against England, praised the nominated members and said: “Congratulations to the players for being nominated and making their mark on the biggest stage in rugby this season. Making their nominations even more remarkable is that most of them have won two Rugby World Cup titles already and that they have continued to deliver the high standards we expect at the Springboks over several years.
“Over and above that, we have used 50 players in our Tests so far this season, and to see them shine among the best players in the world is fantastic. We are extremely proud of them, and we wish them luck when the winners are revealed.”
Equally excited is SA Rugby president Mark Alexander who said: “Having Springboks players feature in two categories is a testament to their hard work and dedication to the team and South Africa, and we are very proud of them,” said Alexander.
“Each one of the Springbok players has shone out this season, and given the quality of the Springbok squad Rassie Erasmus has been building, I’m sure many more players could have been nominated.
“They all deserve this recognition, and we wish them luck for the awards ceremony in Monaco,” continued Alexander.
Etzebeth was nominated in 2013 and last year, while Kolbe and Du Toit were on the shortlist in 2019, the year the versatile Bok forward won the award. Only two other South Africans have walked away with top honours – Schalk Burger in 2004, and Bryan Habana in 2009.
Other South Africans who received nominations for the Men’s 15s Player of the Year Award in the last decade, are Willie le Roux and Duane Vermeulen (both in 2014), Faf de Klerk and Malcolm Marx (both in 2018), and Lukhanyo Am (2022).
The 2024 rugby awards ceremony is on Sunday, Monaco.
Image (SA’s darling Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been nominated in the Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year category).
