Marx up for another award
NEWS: Malcolm Marx, who on Tuesday was named the Players’ Player of the Year at the annual ‘Choice Awards’, is in line for yet another accolade.
Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit, both former winners, are among the five nominees for the South African Rugby Union Player of the Year Award for 2018.
The BlitzBoks and their coach, Neil Powell, were also again nominated in two categories – following the successful defence of their Sevens World Series crown.
The two bruising Springbok forwards – winners in 2017 (Marx) and 2016 (Du Toit) – are up against their national teammates Aphiwe Dyantyi, who won the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year Award last month, Franco Mostert and Handré Pollard.
And in the category for Young Player of the Year, Springbok lock Rudolph Snyman is up against four fleet-footed backs in Aphelele Fassi, Sibusiso Nkosi, Embrose Papier and Damian Willemse.
Two teams and their coaches were nominated in the categories for Team and Coach of the Year – Powell of the Sevens World Series champions, the Springbok Sevens team, and Swys de Bruin of the Lions, who finished as runners-up in Super Rugby.
They are joined by SARU’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus (Coach of the Year nomination) and Currie Cup Premier Division champions, the Sharks (Team of the Year nomination).
“These are exciting times for South African rugby and the number of new players who made their mark for the Springboks is encouraging for the future,” said SARU President Mark Alexander.
“I would like to congratulate all the nominees for their outstanding performances over the last year and wish them well for 2019, which is a massive year for us.
“The Springboks have shown a great resurgence under Rassie Erasmus and his coaching team and the fact that the media nominated him as one of the three Coaches of the Year is a testimony to this. We believe we are heading in the right direction in our preparation for the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
“We’re also very proud of the BlitzBoks and their coach, Neil Powell, who recently started their defence of the Sevens World Series trophy, which has stood proudly in South Africa for the last two years. Their nominations are just reward for consistently performing at a world-class standard.”
The nominations for the Junior Springbok Player of the Year award were very close, with four players making the short-list – Tyrone Green, Salmaan Moerat, Wandisile Simelane and Damian Willemse.
And the three BlitzBoks who are nominated for the Springbok Sevens Player of the Year award are Werner Kok, Dylan Sage – who was included in the World Rugby Sevens Dream Team – and Ruhan Nel.
The other categories where awards will be made are: Craven Week Player of the Tournament, Referee of the Year and Springbok Women’s Achiever of the Year.
Details of the announcement of the winners’ names will be made early in the new season next year.
The winners will be announced before the start of the Super Rugby season.
The nominees are (in alphabetical order):
Player of the Year
1 Pieter-Steph du Toit
2 Aphiwe Dyantyi
3 Malcolm Marx
4 Franco Mostert
5 Handré Pollard
Young Player of the Year
1 Aphelele Fassi
2 Sibusiso Nkosi
3 Embrose Papier
4 RG Snyman
5 Damian Willemse
Team of the Year
1 Lions (Super Rugby runners-up)
2 Sharks (Currie Cup Premier Division winners)
3 Springbok Sevens (Sevens World Series winners)
Coach of the Year
1 Swys de Bruin (Lions)
2 Rassie Erasmus (Springboks)
3 Neil Powell (Springbok Sevens)
Springbok Sevens Player of the Year
1 Werner Kok
2 Ruhan Nel
3 Dylan Sage
Junior Springbok Player of the Year
1 Tyrone Green
2 Salmaan Moerat
3 Wandisile Simelane
4 Damian Willemse
Super Rugby Player of the Tournament
1 Aphiwe Dyantyi (Lions)
2 Malcolm Marx (Lions)
3 Franco Mostert (Lions)
Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year
1 Sarel Marais (Western Province)
2 Sergeal Petersen (Western Province)
3 Armand van der Merwe (Sharks)
First Division Player of the Year
1 Divan Nel (SWD Eagles)
2 Anrich Richter (Falcons)
3 Etienne Taljaard (Falcons)
Challenge Cup Player of the Year
1 Enver Brandt (Griquas)
2 Ruwellyn Isbell (Pumas)
3 Chris Smith (Pumas)
4 Stefan Ungerer (Pumas)
