Du Toit Crowned World Rugby Player Of The Year

Springbok loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit capped off a sensational season by being named Men’s 15s Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards held in Monaco on Sunday.

Du Toit beat out teammates Eben Etzebeth and Cheslin Kolbe as well as Ireland captain Caelan Doris for the most prestigious gong in the game. In doing so, the 32-year-old became the first South African to win rugby’s top individual accolade twice after first earning the honour in 2019. The only other Springboks who have won the award are Schalk Burger (in 2004) and Bryan Habana (in 2009).

Du Toit, who featured at flank and lock, was a tireless Terminator who helped power the back-to-back world champions to an impressive 2024 campaign that saw them clinch the Rugby Championship and win 11 of their 13 Tests, with their only defeats coming by a single point to Ireland and Argentina respectively. 

Seven Springboks were included in the 2024 Dream Team – the trio of Du Toit, Etzebeth and Kolbe along with Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.

Meanwhile, Springbok flyhalf Sacha-Feinberg Mngomezulu, who burst onto the Test arena on style before a knee injury cut his season short, missed out on the Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year award.

All Blacks blue-chipper Wallace Sititi scooped the award ahead of Mngomezulu, England’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ireland’s Jamie Osborne.

In addition to claiming their first Rugby Championship title since 2019, the Springboks also won the Qatar Airways Cup, Mandela Challenge Plate, Freedom Cup and Prince William Cup and finished the season at the top of the world rankings.

Their mentor, Rassie Erasmus, however, was overlooked as the Coach of the Year with the award going to Jérôme Daret, who led the French men’s sevens team to SVNS series glory and Olympic gold in Paris.

Erasmus was full of praise for his players and the entire Springbok team, saying: “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 more 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.

“With the vast player depth in our squad, I’m sure a few more players were close to being nominated, but each one of these players certainly deserves this recognition and we are very proud of them.”

Erasmus also thanked the entire Springbok squad for their efforts this season. “It takes each person in a squad to perform their role proficiently to ensure that the players can deliver on the field, so thank you to the winners and Dream team players, as well as every other player who has been part of the squad this year, not to mention the coaches, medical team, and team management for their commitment to the cause and for allowing us to build such a special team. This is all thanks to the collective effort and well done to all involved.”

Selvyn Davids, captain of the Blitzboks, earned a spot in the Men’s Sevens Dream Team, while SA Rugby won the Rugby for All Award, which celebrates impactful initiatives that uphold rugby’s core values.

SA Rugby’s “The Bag That Builds” project was also commended for promoting sustainability by repurposing tournament waste into building materials for community housing projects.

French star Antoine Dupont, who helped France win their first SVNS titles since 2007 as well as Olympic gold on home soil in Paris, won the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, thus becoming the first male player in history to be named World Rugby Player of the Year in both sevens and 15s (2021 and 2024).

Another Frenchman, Nolann Le Garrec, won the International Rugby Players Men’s Try of the Year award for his dot down against England in the Six Nations.

Meanwhile, England’s Ellie Kildunne claimed the coveted Women’s 15s Player of the Year award 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.

Ireland’s Erin King was named the Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year and Australia’s Maddison Levi received the Women’s World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year. It was a case of third time lucky for Levi after her nominations in 2022 and 2023, and recognising her incredible year which saw her set a new record for most tries in a single Olympic Games (14) after scoring 69 tries in the SVNS series, the second-highest figure in men’s or women’s series history.

Finally, France’s Marine Ménager won the International Rugby Players Women’s Try of the Year award for her effort against Canada.

Five legends of the game were inducted in the World Rugby Hall of Fame in Emilee Cherry (Australia), DJ Forbes (New Zealand), Donna Kennedy (Scotland), Chris Laidlaw (New Zealand) and Sergio Parisse (Italy), while Vickii Cornborough (England) received the International Rugby Players Special Merit Award for her impact, both on and off the field of play, shaping among her many achievements the support available to women’s players in England through her role on the Rugby Players’ Association board.

Award winners:

Men:

Player of the Year

Winner: Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa)

Nominees:

Caelan Doris (Ireland)

Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)

Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa)

Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)

Breakthrough Player of the Year

Winner: Wallace Sititi (New Zealand)

Nominees:

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa)

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (England)

Jamie Osborne (Ireland)

Wallace Sititi (New Zealand)

Try of the Year

Winner: Nolann Le Garrec (France v England, Men’s Six Nations, 17 March)

Nominees:

James Lowe (Ireland v England, Men’s Six Nations, 10 March)

Lorenzo Pani (Italy v Wales, Men’s Six Nations, 17 March)

Nolann Le Garrec (France v England, Men’s Six Nations, 17 March)

Akaki Tabutsadze (Georgia v Australia, July Internationals, 20 July)

Dream Team

1. Ox Nche (South Africa) 2. Malcolm Marx (South Africa) 3. Tyrel Lomax (New Zealand) 4. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) 5. Tadhg Beirne (Ireland) 6. Pablo Matera (Argentina) 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa) 8. Caelan Doris (Ireland) 9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland) 10. Damian McKenzie (New Zealand) 11. James Lowe (Ireland) 12. Damian de Allende (South Africa) 13. Jesse Kriel (South Africa) 14. Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa) 15. Will Jordan (New Zealand).

Coach of the Year

Jérôme Daret (France sevens)

Women:

Player of the Year

Winner: Ellie Kildunne (England)

Nominees:

Pauline Bourdon Sansus (France)

Ellie Kildunne (England)

Alex Matthews (England)

Alex Tessier (Canada)

Breakthrough Player of the Year

Winner: Erin King (Ireland)

Nominees:

Caitlyn Halse (Australia)

Maddie Feaunati (England)

Erin King (Ireland)

Hannah King (New Zealand)

Try of the Year

Winner: Marine Ménager (France v Canada, WXV, 29 September)

Nominees:

Alyssa D’Incà (Italy v Scotland, Women’s Six Nations, 20 April)

Georgia Ponsonby (New Zealand v Australia, Pacific Four Series, 25 May)

Maya Stewart (Australia v Wales, WXV, 28 September)

Marine Ménager (France v Canada, WXV, 29 September)

Dream Team

1. Hope Rogers (USA), 2. Georgia Ponsonby (New Zealand) 3. Maud Muir (England) 4. Zoe Aldcroft (England) 5. Laetitia Royer (Canada) 6. Aoife Wafer (Ireland) 7. Sophie de Goede (Canada) 8. Alex Matthews (England) 9. Pauline Bourdon Sansus (France) 10. Holly Aitchison (England) 11. Katelyn Vahaakolo (New Zealand) 12. Alex Tessier (Canada) 13. Sylvia Brunt (New Zealand) 14. Abby Dow (England) 15. Ellie Kildunne (England).

Sevens:

Men’s Player of the Year

Winner: Antoine Dupont (France)

Nominees:

Antoine Dupont (France)

Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (France)

Terry Kennedy (Ireland)

Women’s Player of the Year

Winner: Maddison Levi (Australia)

Nominees:

Michaela Blyde (New Zealand)

Maddison Levi (Australia)

Jorja Miller (New Zealand)

Men’s Dream Team

Selvyn Davids (South Africa), Antoine Dupont (France), Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (France), Terry Kennedy (Ireland), Nathan Lawson (Australia), Ponipate Loganimasi (Fiji), Matías Osadczuk (Argentina).

Women’s Dream Team

Olivia Apps (Canada), Michaela Blyde (New Zealand), Kristi Kirshe (USA), Maddison Levi (Australia), Ilona Maher (USA), Jorja Miller (New Zealand), Séraphine Okemba (France).