THE 2023 World Cup Rugby winners’ Springboks dominate the 2024 SA Sport awards.
Nine of the 22 categories, this is a good sign for Boks.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Sun City Superbowl, Bokone Bophirima, on 5 May (Sunday).
Here are the nominees:
SA Rugby – Federation of the Year
Mark Alexander – Sports Administrator of the Year
Springboks – Team of the Year
Jacques Nienaber – Coach of the Year
Eben Etzebeth – Sportsman of the Year and People’s Choice Award
Siya Kolisi – Sports Star of the Year and People’s Choice Award
Manie Libbok – Newcomer of the Year
Aimee Barrett-Theron – Technical Officer of the Year
Rian Oberholzer Oberholzer, SA Rugby CEO, congratulated all the nominees and thanked the tireless efforts of the SA Rugby staff members for their contribution in having the organisation nominated as Federation of the Year.
“Having rugby nominated in nine different categories in the county’s most prestige sports awards, is a massive achievement, and we are proud of each individual for being recognised for their efforts on and off the field,” said Oberholzer.
“This is a testament to the hard work the players, coaches, administrators, match officials and staff put in day after day, and these nominations extend to everyone involved. We wish all of them luck as we look forward to what will be another fantastic awards ceremony.”
Boks lost out Team of the Year at last night’s Laureus World awards to Spanish Women’s side.
Meanwhile, the Springboks will line up against Rugby World Cup opponents, Scotland and England, before taking on Wales in the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour in November, with the last Tests confirmed on Monday.
The double world champions will kick off the tour on Sunday, 10 November in Edinburgh against the sixth-ranked Scotland – who they faced in the opening game of their 2023 RWC campaign – before taking on RWC semi-finalists England, currently ranked fifth in the world, in London on Saturday, 16 November, and then Wales (ranked 10th) in Cardiff, a week later on 23 November.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus looked forward to an enthralling tour in November and said: “As a team we want to measure ourselves against the top sides in the world consistently, and facing Scotland, Wales, and England on the year-end tour, two of which we faced in the World Cup, will be fantastic for the team and the players.
“Wales may have had a disappointing Six Nations campaign, while Scotland won two of their five matches and England three, but they are always a force to be reckoned with at home, so we know we have to be at the top of our game when we line up against them.”
Erasmus added: “We have a challenging season ahead, which features home Test series against Ireland in the Castle Lager Incoming Series and New Zealand in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, as well a Test against Portugal, two matches against Australia and Argentina, respectively.
“To face Scotland, England and Wales at the end of the year will certainly spice things up for the team, so we are really looking forward to the season.”
Springbok fixtures:
Saturday, 22 June: SA vs Wales (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 6 July: SA vs Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 13 July: SA vs Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday, 20 July: SA vs Portugal (Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein)
Saturday, 10 August: Australia vs SA (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Saturday, 17 August: Australia vs SA (Optus Stadium, Perth)
Saturday, 31 August: SA vs New Zealand (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 7 September: SA v New Zealand (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)
Saturday, 21 September: Argentina v SA (venue TBC)
Saturday, 28 September: SA v Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)
Sunday, 10 November: Scotland vs SA (Murrayfield, Edinburgh)
Saturday, 16 November: England vs SA (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 23 November: Wales vs SA (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Image supplied (Boks technical team and players nominated in various categories in SA Sport awards).
