South Africa's Player of the Year revealed
AWARDS: Duane Vermeulen led the charge as the Bulls almost made a clean sweep at the annual SA Rugby Awards for the 2020 season, with the Springbok No.8 being named Player of the Year for a second time.
Vermeulen walked off with two awards, including the overall gong for SA Rugby Player of the Year, while the Bulls, champions of Super Rugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup, won in almost every other category.
Stedman Gans, who made a successful transition from the BlitzBoks to star for the Bulls after the World Rugby Sevens Series was cancelled, was named Springbok Sevens Player of the Year, for his role as the BlitzBoks’ won two tournaments out of six to finish second overall on the standings.
Wandisile Simelane, a former Junior Springbok star who got his first taste of senior rugby in green and gold in the successful Springbok Showdown before going on to star for the Emirates and Lions in the local competitions, was named Young Player of the Year.
The 34-year-old Vermeulen, who led the Bulls to two titles last season, including the Currie Cup for the first time since 2009, also won the Super Rugby / Unlocked Player of the Year Award for 2020.
It was therefore no surprise that the Bulls were named Team of the Year and their Director of Rugby, Jake White, was Coach of the Year.
Cornal Hendricks capped a brilliant season by walking away with the accolade for Currie Cup Player of the Year, and Jaco Peyper was named the Referee of the Year.
“It was a very tough season but Duane was superb – not only on the field, where his performances were on par with the very high standard we’ve become accustomed to from him, but he also led the Vodacom Bulls with aplomb as our teams had to navigate numerous new curve balls and challenges,” said Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby.
“I would like to congratulate Jake and the Bulls on their season, as well as Wandisile, Cornal, Stedman and Jaco, but I also have to acknowledge all our teams and players who worked tirelessly under difficult circumstances to ensure that we saw some rugby on local soil in 2020.
“A lot of hard work went into making the season a reality and I would like to thank everyone who played a part in making it happen, especially our broadcast partner and sponsors, who stuck with us through tumultuous times.
“The pandemic has been disruptive to people from all walks of life and apart from the hard work done in training, first at home and later back at their team bases, it was heartening to see our players rolling up their sleeves and also helping fellow South Africans who are not as fortunate. We saw yet again that we are stronger, together.”
The winners and finalists for 2020 are:
SA Rugby Player of the Year: Duane Vermeulen
Finalists: Curwin Bosch, Cornal Hendricks, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Steyn
SA Rugby Young Player of the Year: Wandisile Simelane
Finalists: Curwin Bosch, Stedman Gans, Ruan Nortje, Dylan Richardson
Springbok Sevens Player of the Year: Stedman Gans
Finalists: Angelo Davids, Selvyn Davids
Team of the Year: Bulls
Finalists: Sharks, Springbok Sevens
Coach of the Year: Jake White
Finalists: Sean Everitt, Neil Powell
Super Rugby and Unlocked Player of Year: Duane Vermeulen
Finalists: Frans Steyn, Marco van Staden
Currie Cup Player of the Year: Cornal Hendricks
Finalists: Marco van Staden, Duane Vermeulen
Referee of the Year: Jaco Peyper
🇿🇦 Ladies and gentlemen, your SA Rugby Player of the Year for 2020 is the one and only Duane Vermeulen, for the second time during his stellar career! #SARugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/31N7KmknFO
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
💢 The penultimate winner in the #SARugbyAwards is our Young Player of the Year, Wandisile Simelane! pic.twitter.com/rLl4c8ZsfZ
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
🏆 The Carling Currie Cup Player of the Year is the evergreen Cornal Hendricks! #SARugbyAwards @TheCurrieCup @blacklabelsa pic.twitter.com/Wwehqz1iFd
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
🏉 Congratulations to @JWhiterugby, our Coach of the Year for 2020. #SARugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/hRN8FrvT2j
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
🔨 The Vodacom Super Rugby and Unlocked Player of the Year is none other than Duane Vermeulen! #SARugbyAwards @VodacomRugga pic.twitter.com/zHRKODq9c2
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
⚡ Our @Blitzboks Player of the Year is the ever-smiling Stedman Gans! #SARugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/cHTQCiMKfD
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
🐂 Next up, the Team of the Year for the 2020 season. No surprises here, it’s the Vodacom Bulls! #SARugbyAwards @BlueBullsRugby pic.twitter.com/BRQgJxWaTT
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
🧐 Our first award – the @OUTsurance Referee of the Year – goes to Jaco Peyper! #SARugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/wdoNz1J29a
— Springboks (@Springboks) March 4, 2021
