Nominees for Players' Player of the Year
NEWS: In the wake of a thrilling 2023 World Cup victory, MyPlayers has announced the nominees for the Players' Player of the Year Awards.
This distinguished recognition celebrates the outstanding contributions of players within the South African rugby landscape, acknowledging excellence in three distinct categories; Men’s Fifteens, Springbok Sevens and Springbok Women.
After a thorough evaluation and detailed discussions with the leadership group of the players, this group of professional players compiled the final list of nominees they believed reflected the top players in their respective categories over the past year.
Among this year’s nominees for the Men’s Fifteens Players’ Player of the Year award are World Rugby Awards 2023 nominees Eben Etzebeth and Manie Libbok.
Since 2005 John Smit became the first recipient, 17 players have been recognised by their peers as the best among the best.
THE 2023 MYPLAYERS AWARDS NOMINEES ARE:
Players’ Player of the Year
Manie Libbok
Kurt-Lee Arendse
Frans Malherbe
Eben Etzebeth
Damian Willemse
Sevens Players’ Player of the Year
Shilton van Wyk
Ricardo Duarttee
Christie Grobbelaar
Women’s Players’ Player of the Year
Rights Mkhari
Babalwa Latsha
Nadine Roos
Previous recipients of the Players’ Player of the Year award: John Smit (2005), Kabamba Floors (2006), Willem de Waal (2007), Jean de Villiers (2008), Morné Steyn (2009), Gio Aplon (2010), Bismarck du Plessis (2011), JP Pietersen (2012), Willie le Roux (2013), Duane Vermeulen (2014), Jaco Kriel (2015), Jean-Luc du Preez (2016), Siya Kolisi (2017), Malcolm Marx (2018), Pieter-Steph du Toit (2019), Duane Vermeulen (2020), Cheslin Kolbe (2021), Lukhanyo Am (2022).
Voting and winner announcement: Starting today, all MyPlayers members can cast their votes for the Men's Fifteens Players' Player of the Year. At the same time, only the Blitzboks and Springbok Women (sevens and fifteens) will get to vote in their respective categories. The anticipation will climax in December when the winners in each category will officially be unveiled via press release and social media.