Vermeulen walks away with top prizes
Duane Vermeulen walks away with three awards which included the main prize, Player of the Year award.
IT was all smiles for one of the Springboks stalwarts as Duane Vermeulen walked away with three of the most coveted prizes at South African Rugby Union (SARU) annual prize giving.
The SARU Player of the Year awards took place at Vodacom World, Midrand, on Sunday February 8, which also marked the beginning of the new season.
Vermeulen, who played an integral part in the Springboks beating the All Blacks in 2014, walked away with no less than three awards, including the main award of Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year Awards for 2014.
The 28-year-old Springbok number eight, who will caption the DHL Stormers in their 2015 Super Rugby campaign, received the main award after an extensive voting process, which included the country’s rugby media and the public through SARU’s online and social media platforms.
Vermeulen also won the coveted SARPA Players’ Player of the Year and Vodacom Super Rugby Player of the Year Awards for 2014.
“Duane has been outstanding in 2014, and these awards are just reward for the excellent form he showed last year, as one of the Springboks’ key performers and for the DHL Stormers,” said SARU President Mr Oregan Hoskins.
Hot on Vermeulen’s heels with two awards was young Springbok flyhalf and Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard.
Pollard, one of the five nominees for the main award, was named ABSA Young Player and SA Under 20 Player of the Year, after some stirring performances in his debut season for the Boks and during the Junior World Championship in New Zealand.
On the home front, Golden Lions’ Johan Ackermann was named ABSA Coach of the Year for the way in which he galvanised the team from Johannesburg to be a force to be reckoned with.
The outstanding Springbok Sevens and Women’s Players of the Year were Seabelo Senatla and Fundiswa Plaatjie, neither of whom could attend, because of their participation in two Sevens tournaments in New Zealand and Brazil.
Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje was named as scorer of the Supersport Try of the Year for 2014, for his sublime solo effort against the Crusaders in a highly entertaining Vodacom Super Rugby Match in Bloemfontein.
DHL Western Province walked away with the award for ABSA Team of the Year for their superb ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division campaign.
The winners for 2014 are:
SARU Rugby Player of the Year: Duane Vermeulen
Absa Young Player of the Year: Handré Pollard
SARPA Players’ Player of the Year: Duane Vermeulen (DHL Stormers, Springboks)
Springbok Sevens Player of the Year: Seabelo Senatla
SA Under 20 Player of the Year: Handré Pollard
ABSA Team of the Year: DHL Western Province (ABSA Currie Cup)
ABSA Coach of the Year: Johann Ackermann (Xerox Golden Lions)
Vodacom Super Rugby Player of Year: Duane Vermeulen (DHL Stormers)
Vodacom Cup Player of the Year: Renaldo Bothma (Steval Pumas)
ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year: Nizaam Carr (DHL Western Province)
ABSA Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year: Boela Abrahams (Down Touch Griffons)
Supersport Try of the Year: Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje (Toyota Cheetahs v Crusaders, Vodacom Super Rugby)
Marriott Referee Award: Craig Joubert
Women’s Achiever of the Year: Fundiswa Plaatjie
Cell C Community Cup Player of the Tournament: Michael Nienaber (Rustenburg Impala)
Coca-Cola Craven Week Player of the Tournament: Curwin Bosch (Eastern Province)
