1
The First Annual Rugby Pass End Of The Southern Hemisphere Season Awards
As the curtain falls on another Southern Hemisphere rugby season, official adjudicator Jamie Wall reveals the winners and losers of the 2016 Rugby Pass End Of The Southern Hemisphere Season Awards.
ADVERTISEMENT
Player Of The Season: Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes, All Blacks)
This one wasn’t that hard to call; after all Barrett has already scooped World Rugby Player of the Year for 2016. His ascent from a guy who everyone thought would spend his career on the bench to the first player picked certainly has been fun to watch, but what makes it more astounding is that he did it while having the goal kicking form of someone who just stumbled out of the pub at 3am every other week. It’s no surprise that he’s heavily involved in the next award…
Try of the Season: Willis Halaholo (Hurricanes)
The Hurricanes lost two decades of experience in the midfield with the departure of Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith at the end of last season. The iconic duo were replaced with a revolving door of handy provincial players, and Halaholo was one of them. Here he benefits from the brilliance of Barrett to finish off a stunning long range effort against the Chiefs.
Mouth From the South Award: Michael Cheika (Waratahs, Australia) (returning champion)
The opinionated coach has unfortunately been the main headline for the underperforming Wallabies this year. Referees have mainly been the target of his spite, but he also doesn’t think much of the New Zealand media after they mockingly portrayed him as a clown.
Line Break of the Season: Vaea Fifita (Wellington)
Awesomely dangerous. If Fifita had got this wrong, we’d be having an award for Piers Francis being the first man to have his head kicked off in a rugby game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnqgv5pkGCI
Most Accurate Representation of Your National Team’s Upcoming Season: Bulls
This is what it feels like to be a South African rugby fan right now.
Highest Dose of Cement in the Bloodstream: Dane Coles (Hurricanes, All Blacks)
Played the Super Rugby final and held the trophy aloft with broken ribs. Was supposed to watch the Bledisloe Cup match two weeks later from the bench, but got called on after four minutes, still with said ribs broken. Legend.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ‘2016 Should Have Been Our Year’ Award: Lions
This truly has been the year of the underdog: Leicester City, Chicago Cubs, Cronulla Sharks and, sadly, Donald Trump. While the Hurricanes’ Super Rugby triumph was sort of a surprise, it really should’ve been their opponents that had their name in lights given that their entire history up until this year has been more or less a complete travesty.
[rugbypass-ad-banner id=”1475535264″]
Biggest Disappointment: Jaguares
Predicted by some to win Super Rugby in their first ever season, the Jags ended up being a pale imitation of Los Pumas (which is what they essentially were just in different jerseys). At the mercy of a national agenda that limited selections, the fact that they occasionally managed to look like a million bucks made their existence all the more frustrating.
The Inaugural Aaron Smith Award For Career-Limiting Behaviour: Aaron Smith (Highlanders, All Blacks)
During the Super Rugby playoffs Smith had the rare distinction of being the first player in rugby history to make a ref change his mind. With the world at his feet, it all came crashing down in a disabled toilet at Christchurch airport. The ensuing media circus put New Zealand’s repressed sexual culture in the spotlight, and affected the halfback so much he was a shadow of himself on the end of year tour.
Spirit of Sportsmanship: All Blacks / Wallabies / Springboks
The honours are shared between the big three Southern Hemisphere nations for their efforts to raise hope in the north – much needed after last year’s calamitous Rugby World Cup in which not a single European made the semifinals. This season the Wallabies allowed England to regain a great deal of dignity during their series whitewash in June, while the mighty All Blacks gave the Irish a reason to rejoice for the first time in 111 years. Meanwhile the Springboks have been sharing the love openly and freely to basically anyone who arranges a game with them.
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments