New Springboks Nizaam Carr and Handré Pollard lead the full list of nominees released by the South African Rugby Union on Wednesday for their annual Rugby Player of the Year Awards, which will take place on February 8, 2015.
Local hero Carr – who made his Springbok debut last month – has been nominated in three categories, along with fellow Bok newbie Pollard.
Twenty-three-year-old Carr, a standout for the DHL Stormers and DHL Western Province in 2014, has been nominated in for the SARU Player of the Year, Absa Young Player of the Year and Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year.
Hot on Carr’s heels, with two nominations each, are DHL Stormers and DHL WP teammates Duane Vermeulen (SARU Player and Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year) and Seabelo Senatla (Absa Young Player and SA Sevens Player of the Year).
Other DHL WP and/or DHL Stormers players nominated for 2014 awards are hot-stepping fullback Cheslin Kolbe (Absa Young Player of the Year) and Absa Currie Cup-winning skipper Juan de Jongh (Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year).
Head coaches Allister Coetzee, Neil Powell and Johann Ackermann will battle it out for the title of Absa Coach of the Year, whilst their respective teams, DHL Western Province, the Springbok Sevens, and the Xerox Golden Lions have been nominated with the Springboks and Junior Springboks in the category for Absa Team of the Year.
The public vote in the SARU Rugby Player, Absa Young Player and Absa Team of the Year categories, through a number of online channels, will come to an end at 14h00 on Friday. To vote via Twitter, simply click here, or cast your vote through the online Springbok magazine by clicking here.
Other awards that will be presented on February 8, 2015 are in the categories of SARPA Players’ Player of the Year, SuperSport Try of the Year, Coca-Cola Craven Week Player of the Year, Marriott Referee Award, Women’s Player of the Year and Cell C Community Cup Player of the Tournament.
ALL THE NOMINATIONS FOR 2014:
(In alphabetical order)
SARU Rugby Player of the Year:
1. Nizaam Carr
2. Marcell Coetzee
3. Willie le Roux
4. Handré Pollard
5. Duane Vermeulen
Absa Young Player of the Year:
1. Nizaam Carr
2. Cheslin Kolbe
3. Handré Pollard
4. Seabelo Senatla
5. Jan Serfontein
Absa Team of the Year:
1. Springboks
2. Junior Springboks
3. Springbok Sevens
4. Xerox Golden Lions (Absa Currie Cup)
5. DHL Western Province (Absa Currie Cup)
Absa Coach of the Year:
1. Johann Ackermann (Xerox Golden Lions)
2. Allister Coetzee (DHL Western Province)
3. Neil Powell (Springbok Sevens)
SA Under-20 Player of the Year:
1. Thomas du Toit
2. Jesse Kriel
3. Handré Pollard
SA Sevens Player of the Year:
1. Branco du Preez
2. Frankie Horne
3. Seabelo Senatla
Vodacom Super Rugby Player of Year:
1. Marcell Coetzee (Cell C Sharks)
2. Duane Vermeulen (DHL Stormers)
3. Warren Whiteley (Lions)
Vodacom Cup Player of the Year:
1. Renaldo Bothma (Steval Pumas)
2. Jonathan Francke (GWK Griquas)
3. Lizo Gqoboka (EP Kings)
Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year:
1. Nizaam Carr (DHL Western Province)
2. Juan de Jongh (DHL Western Province)
3. Jaco Kriel (Xerox Golden Lions)
Absa Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year:
1. Boela Abrahams (Down Touch Griffons)
2. Sylvian Mahuza (Leopards)
3. Dillon Smit (Leopards)