At a special World Rugby awards ceremony on Sunday in Monaco, Pieter-Steph du Toit was deservedly named the 15s Men’s Player of the Year, but it could not be overlooked that Rassie Erasmus somehow missed out on the Coach of the Year.
Rassie had led the Springboks to 11 out of 13 wins in 2024 (85% win record), ensuring they finished the year top of the world rankings, while the team also won the Rugby Championship for the first time in a ‘full-round’ competition.
However, in the end, unheralded France Sevens coach Jérôme Daret was named World Rugby’s Coach of the Year for 2024 after leading the team’s gold medal-winning effort at the Paris Olympics.
According to World Rugby, the award “recognised his efforts in ending a 19-year wait for an SVNS title Cup and steering France to Olympic gold in July”.
Daret is the first sevens coach to receive this award.
Such a bizarre decision unsurprisingly led to a reaction of shock and disbelief from most social media users, many of whom also pointed out how Erasmus had become an ‘enemy’ of World Rugby for his outspoken nature and previous controversies that saw him twice receive a ban from the governing body.
You can see some of the reaction to Rassie Erasmus’ World Rugby snub below:
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS DECISION?
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Pieter-Steph du Toit and England’s Ellie Kildunne were named World Rugby Men’s and Women’s 15s Player of the Year, respectively.
The Springbok flanker wins the prestigious accolade for the second time, having also been named World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year in 2019, and joins a very select group of players that have won this Award more than once in All Blacks Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Beauden Barrett.
Fullback Ellie Kildunne claims the coveted prize for the first time after playing a key role in the Red Roses’ perfect 2024 campaign that saw them win all 10 matches played and secure the Women’s Six Nations and WXV 1 titles.
In a year that saw rugby sevens’ coming of age at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and first SVNS Grand Final in Madrid, Australia’s Maddison Levi and France’s Antoine Dupont received the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year awards in partnership with HSBC for their performances and achievements on the pitch.
It is a case of third time lucky for Levi after her nominations in 2022 and 2023, and recognising her incredible year which saw the Australian set a new record for most tries in a single Olympic Games (14) after scoring 69 tries on the HSBC SVNS 2024, the second-highest figure in men’s or women’s series history.
The prolific finisher becomes the third Australian recipient after Emilee Cherry and Charlotte Caslick.
French star Dupont, who helped France win their first HSBC SVNS titles since 2007 in Los Angeles, Madrid as well as Olympic gold on home soil in Paris becomes the first male player in history to be named World Rugby Player of the Year in both sevens and 15s (2021 and 2024).
https://twitter.com/mark_keohane/status/1860775780076101808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860839433928605855%7Ctwgr%5Ec401cb2a0f75543dd5d8481a21c4477837620c24%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fspringboks%2Frassie-erasmus-robbed-reaction-world-rugby-coach-of-year-snub%2F
https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1860774735912538200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860893362389164194%7Ctwgr%5Ec401cb2a0f75543dd5d8481a21c4477837620c24%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fspringboks%2Frassie-erasmus-robbed-reaction-world-rugby-coach-of-year-snub%2F
https://twitter.com/CaptSpringbok/status/1860776102039634062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860776102039634062%7Ctwgr%5Ec401cb2a0f75543dd5d8481a21c4477837620c24%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fspringboks%2Frassie-erasmus-robbed-reaction-world-rugby-coach-of-year-snub%2F
https://twitter.com/ItsBilaso/status/1860780976432943113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860780976432943113%7Ctwgr%5Ec401cb2a0f75543dd5d8481a21c4477837620c24%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fspringboks%2Frassie-erasmus-robbed-reaction-world-rugby-coach-of-year-snub%2F
https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1860774735912538200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860893362389164194%7Ctwgr%5Ec401cb2a0f75543dd5d8481a21c4477837620c24%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fspringboks%2Frassie-erasmus-robbed-reaction-world-rugby-coach-of-year-snub%2F
https://twitter.com/mark_keohane/status/1860775780076101808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1860839433928605855%7Ctwgr%5Ec401cb2a0f75543dd5d8481a21c4477837620c24%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesouthafrican.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fspringboks%2Frassie-erasmus-robbed-reaction-world-rugby-coach-of-year-snub%2F
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