Pieter-Steph du Toit named SA rugby player of the year

Stormers and Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit was on Monday named as the 2016 South African Player of the Year at a ceremony at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg.

Du Toit delivered consistent and eye-catching performances throughout Super Rugby and for the Springboks in a difficult season that has seen the national team lose five of nine Tests.

In Super Rugby Du Toit racked up impressive numbers, including 139 ball carries that made him the highest ranked tight forward in the competition in that category.

It was a part of his game that the Stormers relied on heavily for front-foot ball.

Du Toit was also second overall in terms of lineouts stolen in the competition with 14 steals and he ranked third overall for lineouts won on his own throw with 72.

He also made an impressive 132 tackles and scored a respectable three tries.

For the Boks his numbers were also good with 30 carries and two line breaks during the Rugby Championship.

He also won 22 lineouts on his own throw and stole one, which ranked second, showing just how difficult it was to poach opposition lineout ball in the Rugby Championship.

The 24-year-old Du Toit became the second Springbok lock in two seasons to be named as SA Rugby’s Player of the Year following Lood de Jager.

Eight of the night’s winners were aged 25 or younger.

The average age of all the players who won awards, is 22.7 years.

Du Toit fought off strong challenges for the top award from his middle row partner Eben Etzebeth, and a trio of Boks from the Lions – Ruan Combrinck, Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley.

The Golden Lions, however, won a total of five awards.

The winners from Johannesburg were hooker Malcolm Marx (Young Player of the Year), flyhalf Elton Jantjies (Super Rugby Player of the Tournament), Jacques Nel (Supersport Try of the Year) and Johan Ackermann (Coach of the Year).

The Lions were named Team of the Year after a superb showing in Super Rugby where they finished runners-up.

The prestigious Players’ Player of the Year Award, presented by MyPlayers and voted for by the players themselves, went to Sharks flank Jean-Luc du Preez, who was on Saturday included in the Springbok squad for their November tour to Britain and Italy.

The winners in the three categories for national teams were Seabelo Senatla (Springbok Sevens Player of the Year), Curwin Bosch (Junior Springbok Player of the Year) and Marithy Pienaar (Springbok Women Player of the Year).

“To see so many young players step up and make their mark certainly bodes well for the future and I would like to congratulate all the winners, as well as those who were nominated,” said Mark Alexander, acting president of SA Rugby.

“Many of the players who won awards this year will thrill us for many years to come and I’m certainly excited to see what the future holds for them and South African rugby in its entirety.

“It was a challenging year for South African rugby in many respects, but there were still a lot of wonderful achievements worth celebrating and all the players who won awards tonight fully deserve to walk away with the spoils.”

The award winners are (followed by nominees in alphabetical order):

SA Rugby Player of the Year: Pieter-Steph du Toit

Young Player of the Year: Malcolm Marx

Players’ Player of the Year, presented by MyPlayers: Jean-Luc du Preez (Sharks)

Team of the Year: Lions (Super Rugby)

Coach of the Year: Johan Ackermann (Lions, Golden Lions)

Junior Springbok Player of the Year: Curwin Bosch

SA Sevens Player of the Year: Seabelo Senatla

Super Rugby Player of Year: Elton Jantjies (Lions)

Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year: Ox Nche (Free State Cheetahs)

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