Lood de Jager is SA Rugby Player of 2015
Lood de Jager named as player of the Year 2015.
A HOST of the stars from 2015 will be let loose in Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend, chief among them Springbok lock Lood de Jager, who was on Thursday February 25 named the SA Rugby Player of the Year for last season, acknowledging his stellar performances in the green and gold during a tough international season.
De Jager, who was born in Alberton, attended Hoërskool Hugenote and went to North West University. The 23-year old currently plays for the Toyota Cheetahs and previously had a stint with the Leopards.
De Jager is the youngest winner of the most prestigious award in South African rugby since Bryan Habana walked away with the spoils in 2005, aged 22. The Toyota Cheetahs lock edged out fellow nominees for the top award, Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth, Schalk Burger and Jaco Kriel, also from Alberton.
Other winners include the Vodacom Bulls duo of Jesse Kriel and Warrick Gelant, as well as Jaco Kriel of the Emirates Lions.
Jaco Kriel, however, was rewarded for a sublime season by walking away with two accolades: the prestigious Players’ Player of the Year Award, presented by MyPlayers, and the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year Award, after he led the Xerox Golden Lions to the crown.
The Xerox Golden Lions were deservedly named the Absa Team of the Year, while Johan Ackermann walked away with the Absa Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive season, capping a fine 2015 for the Johannesburg-based union.
De Allende, who just lost out to De Jager for the top award following an extensive voting process from the media and public, was named the Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year after delivering consistently strong performances for the DHL Stormers.
Jesse Kriel, who partnered De Allende in a potent midfield combination in the latter stages of the Rugby World Cup, was named Absa Young Player of the Year, while Gelant, one of the Junior Springboks’ stars last season, walked away with spoils as SA Under-20 Player of the Year.
Werner Kok, World Rugby’s Sevens Player of the Year, was a unanimous decision as Springbok Sevens Player of the Year, with Veroeshka Grain earning the Women’s Achiever Award and Rasta Rasivhenge winning the Marriott Referee Award.
The other award winners were Marnus Schoeman of the Steval Pumas (Vodacom Cup Player of the Year), Leopards fullback Rhyno Smith (Absa Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year), Johan Deysel of NWU-Pukke (Supersport Try of the Year), Ernst van Rhyn of Western Province (Coca-Cola Craven Week Player of the Year) and Leon du Plessis of Rustenburg Impala (Club Player of the Year).
