Am, Kolisi & Mapimpi among nominees at SA Rugby Awards
Springboks stars Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and Makazole Mapimpi will compete for this year’s SA Rugby Player of the Year award.
SA Rugby announced the nominees in eight categories on Friday.
Springbok captain Kolisi, the only player to start in all 13 Tests this year, played a typical captain’s innings while Etzebeth, the most experienced member of the current Springbok squad, was one of the most consistent players this season, often leading the charge of the pack.
Am and De Allende, who have now started together as Bok centre partners in 22 Tests, formed a lethal midfield combination, often opening up space on the outside for Mapimpi to score, with the Bok speedster scoring six tries this year.
After a good year in which they won the Lions Series, beat the All Blacks and won two of their three Tests in November, the Springboks and their head coach, Jacques Nienaber, are also up for awards and will square off against the Blitzboks and Neil Powell, as well as the Currie Cup-winning Bulls and Jake White for the Team and Coach of the Year awards.
