Springbok lock Pieter-Steph du Toit was named World Men’s 15s Player of the Year for the second time in his career at a ceremony held in Monaco on Sunday.
Du Toit beat competition from teammates Cheslin Kolbe and Eben Etzebeth, who also included Ireland’s Caelan Doris.
He becomes the first Springbok to win the award for the second time, after he first won it in 2019.
Seven Springbok Rugby World Cup winners were named in the 2024 Dream Team, which includes Du Toit, Etzebeth, Kolbe, Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.
Coach Rassie Erasmus was however snubbed for Coach of the Year, which went to France Sevens coach, Jerome Daret.
Blitzboks captain, Selvyn Davids, also received an accolade when he was included in the Men’s Sevens Dream Team.
SA Rugby won the Rugby for All Award, which celebrates impactful initiatives that uphold rugby’s core values.
SA Rugby President Mark Alexander lauded all the players for being honoured in such a remarkable year for the Boks.
“On behalf of SA Rugby, I’d like to extend our sincere 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.
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.
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,” said Alexander.
The president’s comments were echoed by Erasmus, who was also full of praise for the players and entire Springbok team.
“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 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,” said Erasmus.
