SA Rugby boss hails Bok stars, Pieter-Steph du Toit: ‘Simply remarkable’

SA Rugby boss, Mark Alexander, has hailed the Springboks for their “simply remarkable” achievements in 2024.

Under the guidance of Rassie Erasmus, the Boks finished their year with 11 wins from 13 matches, while Pieter-Steph du Toit was on Sunday named World Rugby’s Player of the Year for a second time. He also won the award in 2019.

Two other Bok players were in the running, namely Cheslin Kolbe and Eben Etzebeth, along with Ireland’s Caelan Doris.

Seven Bok players were also named in a Dream Team for 2024, namely the trio of Du Toit, Etzebeth and Kolbe as well as Ox Nche (prop), Malcolm Marx (hooker), and the centre pairing of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.

Selvyn Davids, the Blitzboks’ captain, was also named in the Sevens Dream Team of the Year, at the World Rugby awards function in Monaco on Sunday.

“On behalf of SA Rugby, I’d like to extend our since congratulations to Pieter-Steph and all the players named in the Dream Team for receiving this recognition for all the hard work they’ve been putting in on and off the field this year, as well as Selvyn for his consistently great performances during a challenging season for the Blitzboks,” said Alexander on Monday.

“For Pieter-Steph to become the first South African to win the World Rugby Player of the Year award twice is a notable achievement, and to have seven Boks in total feature in the Dream Team is simply remarkable.”

Rassie has built ‘something special’

Alexander was also full of praise for coach Erasmus, who he said had built “something special with the Bok team”.

“Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has built something special with the Bok team and the way the players give their all week-in and week-out is an inspiration to us all and shows that hard pays off.

“We are very proud of them and the entire Springbok coaching and management team for their tireless efforts to ensure that our players continue to shine on the international stage.

Meanwhile, rising flyhalf star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed out on the award for Breakthrough Player of the Year, the gong going to New Zealand’s Wallace Sititi.

Erasmus was also full of praise for the players and entire Springbok team and said: “To have so many of our players feature in the awards is a testament to their hard work and dedication to the team and the Springbok brand, and that’s what makes this such a special group.

“What makes this achievement even more significant is that we used 50 players in total this season and rotated our squad regularly, which shows the calibre of players they are. But rugby is a team sport, and it takes each one of the squad members to do their bit to place one another in positions to shine.

“With the vast player depth in our squad, I’m sure a few more players were close to being nominated, but each one of these players certainly deserves this recognition and we are very proud of them.”