Five Springboks up for player of the year

Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Hougaard, Pat Lambie and Victor Matfield have all been nominated for the South African Rugby Union(Saru) player of the year award.

The five members of the Springbok World Cup squad were voted for by members of the media. The overall winner will announced on November 3.

Burger and Du Plessis are also nominated in the category for Super Rugby Player of the Year, while Hougaard and Lambie also feature in the list of nominees for Young Player of the Year.

The only other players to get nominations in more than one category, are the Lions duo of Elton Jantjies (flyhalf) and Jaco Taute (fullback), as well as Free State Cheetahs flyhalf Johan Goosen.

All three were nominated in the categories for Young Player and Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the Year.

The Stormers’ performance in Super Rugby, where they hosted a home semi-final, is also reflected in the nominations. They are nominated as Team of the Year, Allister Coetzee is one of the five coaches on the shortlist for Coach of the Year and Burger is joined by Gio Aplon and Duane Vermeulen on the list of nominees for Super Rugby Player of the Year.

Also nominated in the categories for Coach and Team of the Year are Paul Treu and the Springbok Sevens side, who won three tournaments during the 2010/11 Sevens World Series.—Sapa