Robshaw the Premiership's best
Harlequins back row forward Chris Robshaw was named Premiership Player of the Season at the Aviva Awards ceremony in London.
Robshaw made his Harlequins debut in January 2006, leading them to the top spot in the Premiership league table at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Redhill-born Robshaw captained Millfield before moving to Harlequins. He was educated at Cumnor House School, Surrey, becoming the captain of Harlequins last season.
“This award is richly deserved,” said Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea.
“What I like about him is that no matter which accolades come his way or what he achieves we all know what comes first with Chris is the team.
“Chris is the sort of guy who’ll never get above himself. For him it is all about the team. He wants nothing more than for the team to be successful.”
This season Robshaw has had a stellar campaign not only leading his club but taking over the England captaincy after the World Cup, leading his side to four victories in five matches during the 2012 Six Nations Championship.
Three of the victories were away from Twickenham and the fourth was the 30-9 win over Ireland at HQ.
Despite leading his country this season, Robshaw has still played an impressive 16 Premiership matches for Harlequins. Last season he was ever-present, playing in all 22 Premiership fixtures.
The Premiership Player of the Season award isn’t Robshaw’s only accolade from the Premiership Awards as he was selected by former England internationals Austin Healey and Ben Kay as captain of the Dream Team. Robshaw was joined by Harlequins’ teammates Mike Brown, George Lowe, Joe Marler, and Nick Easter.
Healey and Kay picked five Leicester Tigers in their side, two from Northampton Saints, to add to the five Quins, alongside one player from Saracens and two from Exeter Chiefs.
The Discovery of the Season award, presented to the best player aged 21 years or under on the day of the Premiership Final (26 May 2012), was won by Saracens centre Owen Farrell.
The award caps a remarkable couple of seasons for 20-year-old Farrell, who also made his England debut this season.
The final major award, the QBE Director of Rugby of the Season, was presented to Rob Baxter, the man who has been instrumental in one of the game’s great stories of 2011-12. Baxter led his side into Premiership last season and in this campaign has guided the club to fifth in the Premiership table and a place in next year’s Heineken Cup.
The Try of the Season was awarded to Gloucester fullback Jonny May for his stunning strike against Harlequins.
The awards evening began with one of the most famous figures in Premiership, Bob Casey, receiving the Community Player of the Season Award for his tireless work on a number of community projects.
Rob Baxter wasn’t the only Chief to leave with a trophy as Gonzalo Camacho won the Game Changer of the Season Award.
To find a winner, formula was devised to award players points for things like metres gained, number of carries, turnovers won and tackles made.
Tom Homer had a sensational season, the prolific kicker ending his campaign with 253 points from his boot to win the Golden Boot after Jimmy Gopperth had held the trophy for two seasons.
In the try-scoring stakes it was all about Rob Miller as the Sale Shark crossed the line ten times to pick up the Top Try Scorer of the Season Award.
Concluding the list of award winners was Newcastle’s Luke Fielden who was named the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series Player of the Season, as the Falcons lifted the trophy in a pulsating final against Saracens.
The winners and nominees in full were as follows:
Premiership Player of the Season
Winner: Chris Robshaw
Shortlist: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), James Scaysbrook (Exeter Chiefs), Julian Salvi (Leicester Tigers) and Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Discovery of the Season
Winner: Owen Farrell
Shortlist: Owen Farrell (Saracens) Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Christian Wade (London Wasps) and Luke Wallace (Harlequins)
Director of Rugby of the Season
Winner: Rob Baxter
Shortlist: Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs), Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers) and Conor O’Shea (Harlequins)
Try of the Season
Winner: Jonny May
Shortlist: Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby v Exeter Chiefs), Michael Claassens (Bath Rugby v London Irish), James Downey (Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints), Christian Wade (London Wasps v Leicester Tigers), Luke Wallace (Harlequins v London Wasps)
Game Changer of the Season
Winner: Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter Chiefs)
Runners up: Andy Powell (Sale Sharks) – 2nd, Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 3rd.
Community Player of the Season
Winner: Bob Casey
Shortlist: Bob Casey (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints), Will Fraser (Saracens) and James Hudson (Newcastle Falcons)
Premiership Sevens Series Player of the Season
Winner: Luke Fielden
Shortlist: Danny Bibby (Sale Sharks), Ross Chisholm (Harlequins), Luke Fielden (Newcastle Falcons) and James Short (Saracens).
Top Try Scorer
Winner: Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 10 tries
Golden Boot
Winner: Tom Homer (London Irish) – 253 points
Dream Team: 15 Mike Brown (Harlequins), 14 Horacio Agulla (Leicester), 13 George Lowe (Harlequins), 12 George Pisi (Northampton), 11 Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester), 10 Toby Flood (Leicester), 9 Haydn Thomas (Exeter), 8 Nick Easter (Harlequins ), 7 James Scaysbrook (Exeter), 6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, captain), 5 Geoff Parling (Leicester), 4 Samu Manoa (Northampton), 3 Dan Cole (Leicester), 2 Schalk Brits (Saracens), 1 Joe Marler (Harlequins).
