21 November 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

SA Super Rugby Player of the Year Candidates

Reflecting on a lukewarm season, Quintin van Jaarsveld reveals his candidates for the South African Super Rugby Player of the Year award.

The irony of the Jaguares coming out as South African Conference winners for the first time sums up the “so, so” collective challenge from the local franchises. All four remained in the playoff race until the very end, and ultimately the Bulls and Sharks reached the quarter-finals after beating the Lions and Stormers in their respective final-round, winners-take-all encounters.

The inconsistency that plagued all four teams, however, effectively eliminated them as legitimate title challengers and was primarily to blame for the Pretoria and Durban franchises’ last-eight exits following their away losses to the Hurricanes (35-28) and Brumbies (38-13) respectively.

While the teams were never able to get on a roll, several players fired on all cylinders, none greater than these five:

The Sharks’ fortunes changed the moment Bosch was finally moved from fullback to flyhalf in Round 11. By that stage, fans’ frustration had boiled over into fury as coach Robert du Preez had refused to answer their call for the multi-talented Bosch to be backed as pivot. Despite accusations of nepotism growing louder week after week, a stubborn Du Preez stuck with his talented but woefully out-of-form son, Robert Jr.

It took back-to-back humiliating home defeats – a 51-17 drubbing at the hands of the Jaguares and a 21-14 loss to the Reds, the first in Durban in 15 years – for the under-fire coach to finally give Bosch his break. With the 22-year-old at No.10 for the first time since 2017, the Sharks immediately looked a different side and broke a 19-year drought in Sydney, beating the Waratahs 23-15.

Bosch became the general the Durban side so desperately needed and guided them into the play-offs with his mercurial playmaking skills, tactical nous and accurate goal-kicking.

In what proved to be his final year of Super Rugby, as he and his brothers Jean-Luc and Robert wound up joining Sale Sharks earlier than anticipated, Du Preez was the hardest-working South African player of the season, ranking third in carries (180) and joint-ninth in offloads (19).

He was the key cog in the Sharks machine, without whom the Durban side wouldn’t have qualified for the quarter-finals. Through sheer strength and explosiveness, he smashed over the gainline and sucked in defenders, scoring several tries and creating opportunities out wide with his offloading ability, which made him a dual threat.

An aggressive, industrious defender as well, the 24-year-old looked set to add to his four Test caps but was ruled out for selection for the Rugby Championship and ultimately the World Cup through injury.

The Bulls loosehead was super consistent, dependably dominant at scrum time, set off on many surging runs and regularly racked up double-digit tackle numbers. A star in the making, his stellar Super Rugby season saw him make two appearances for the Springboks.

The 29-year-old made his Bok bow when he replaced the legendary Tendai Mtawarira in the 48th minute of the 35-17 win over the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship opener and earned his second cap when he came on for Thomas du Toit in the 46th minute of the 24-18 victory over Argentina.

As impactful and influential in open play, as he is in the scrums, timing has been the only thing holding Gqoboka back. He only took up rugby some 10 years ago and had this not have been a World Cup year, he probably would’ve stayed in the Springbok picture. With Mtawarira calling time on his Test career after the Springboks’ World Cup triumph, the door is open for Gqoboka to take his career to new heights in 2020.

Lions rugby is synonymous with heart and relying on home-grown talent to produce the goods. Reputations count for little in Johannesburg; instead of splashing the cash for big-name players, they back so-called “no-name” talent. It’s a system built on belief and one that’s seen a host of those players evolve into Springboks.

Nobody personified the heart, hunger, passion and superior determination of the Lions more than rookie fullback Green. Having lost a litany of senior players as well as mastermind Johan Ackermann, the Lions of 2019 were a far cry from the pride who’d featured in three consecutive finals.

Their struggles this season shone the spotlight that much brighter on the former Junior Springbok star, who stood out with his unmatched enthusiasm. The livewire was like a lightning bolt, popping up everywhere and making the majority of his teammates looking deprived of oxygen. The 21-year-old well and truly put himself on the map with his attacking flair and bullish defence, prompting many to earmark him as a future Springbok.

Interestingly, the Bulls lock is the only player on this shortlist who went on to form part of the World Cup-winning Springbok squad. The most skilful second-rower of Super Rugby 2019, Snyman amazed with his Harlem Globetrotter-like offloads, a new wrinkle he added to his game, which he executed with great accuracy and success.

His 23 passes in contact were the joint third-most of the season and formed a major part of the Bulls’ more up-tempo approach, which propelled them into the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The skyscraper also ran the Bulls lineout like clockwork, with the Pretoria side boasting a tournament-best 93.5% success rate in this set-piece. As a target, he was safe as houses, while he also disrupted and snatched many a ball on the opposition’s throw.

In addition to his set-piece and ball-carrying prowess, the 24-year-old was a key organiser when it came to the rolling maul and he got through a ton of work on defence, forcibly flinging his long arms around countless runners.

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