Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and Toulouse wing Matthis Lebel are up for awards.
Continuing our theme of opening things up to the rugby public, here is your chance to vote for the winners of the 2024 Planet Rugby Readers’ Awards.
It is very much a XVs focussed list of awards up for grabs this year and we’ve opened up things up from four to five nominees that you’ll be able to choose from.
Without further ado, let’s get into our six gongs and who is up for each. We will be announcing the winners on Friday so don’t delay and get your votes counted.
Men’s Player of the Year
It is the four World Rugby men’s nominees plus Springboks prop Ox Nche, who is up for the award following another impressive year at the coalface. Alongside fellow South Africa team-mates, back-row Pieter-Steph du Toit, lock Eben Etzebeth and wing Cheslin Kolbe, Nche is joined by consistent Ireland captain and number eight Caelan Doris in our quintet. To a man this group of international players all boast a genuine claim to this coveted award.
Cast your vote for the Men’s Player of the Year below.
Women’s Player of the Year
Ellie Kildunne won World Rugby’s prize in this category after scoring 14 tries in just 10 Tests this year in an impressive season. Meanwhile, team-mate and number eight Alex Matthews also impressed over the past 12 months for John Mitchell’s team. Our other nominees include France scrum-half Pauline Bourdon Sansus, Canada centre Alex Tessier and Ireland flanker Aoife Wafer, who were all outstanding in their own right throughout the year.
Cast your vote for the Women’s Player of the Year below.
Breakthrough Player of the Year
There’s no doubting the impact World Rugby nominees Wallace Sititi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Jamie Osborne had for their respective nations and the same can be said of Joaquín Oviedo. Although the number eight was capped for Argentina three years ago, it was a brief cameo and this year was when he really made a splash. Meanwhile, the All Black, Bok, Irishman and Englishman took the game by stom.
Cast your vote for the Breakthrough Player of the Year below.
Coach of the Year
Hands down the most contentious decision at World Rugby’s awards night was the snubbing of Rassie Erasmus in this category as France Sevens coach Jérôme Daret picked up the award. As mentioned we’re very much XVs themed here and that means nominations for England women’s boss John Mitchell, Toulouse’s double-winning coach Ugo Mola, Northampton’s Premiership winner Phil Dowson and URC winner Franco Smith (Glasgow).
Cast your vote for the Coach of the Year below.
International Team of the Year
A hugely impressive year from the Springboks saw them win 11 out of 13 matches while Ireland celebrated Six Nations glory in the men’s competition with England again victorious in the women’s tournament. That leaves an improving All Blacks team under new head coach Scott Robertson and France as the other nominees after largely positive years. Both were second in their respective main tournaments and improved as the season progressed.
Cast your vote for the International Team of the Year below.
Club Team of the Year
We also thought clubs needed to be recognised for their efforts over the past year and have highlighted the key competition champions and a newly-promoted side. Toulouse won a famous Top 14 and Champions Cup double while Northampton took the Premiership honours and Glasgow Warriors were crowned URC winners, with the Blues winning Super Rugby Pacific. Lastly Vannes sealed promotion to the Top 14 in an amazing underdog story.
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