How World Rugby Has Devalued The End Of Year Awards

World Rugby has managed to completely devalue the ‘prestigious’ end of year awards with a plethora of unjust nominations and snubs.

 

On Monday, World Rugby announced the long list of nominees for the World Rugby Awards, leaving fans and pundits puzzled on multiple nominations.

 

Although some sites will have you believe that the outrage was reserved for South African fans, this was far from the truth.

 

Irishman Tom Savage highlighted the exclusion of Lukhanyo Am and Siya Kolisi in particular.

And that's before we even talk about Siya Kolisi and how good he's been in 2021.

Thing is, regardless of who wins anyone who knows their onions knows that Am and Kolisi are worthy of that world class recognition.

— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) November 15, 2021

Andy Rowe of the Rugby Pod suggested anyone of the Springbok front rowers.

No Springboks? Any one of their front row would do…. https://t.co/FGF0MB08uO

— Andy Rowe (@AndyRoweOnline) November 15, 2021

This raises a separate issue that not a single prop has ever been nominated for the Award.

Nominees by position 2001-2021:

Prop = 0
Hooker = 5
Lock = 10
Flanker = 24
No 8 = 10
Scrum-half = 10
Fly-half = 18
Centre = 13
Wing = 9
Fullback = 6#Justice4Props https://t.co/32G2L7tWHn

— Russ Petty (@rpetty80) November 15, 2021

New Zealand also failed to secure a single nomination in the top awards for the men’s and women’s XV, with Ireland and Scotland snubbed in every category.

 

World Rugby chose to celebrate mediocrity in the men’s XV game as four players who won absolutely nothing on the test stage managed nominations for the Player of the Year.

 

England finished fifth in the Six Nations while the Lions fell to a 2-1 Series loss to the Springboks – not including the loss to South Africa A – yet England’s Maro Itoje still managed a nomination ahead of Eben Etzebeth.

 

France claimed a second-place finish in the second Six Nations and lost 2-1 to Australia in the test series, yet Antoine Dupont (who played just seven tests before his nomination) claimed a place in the four-man shortlist.

 

As for Australia, apparently, a 2nd place finish in the Rugby Championship, three thrashings at the hands of the All Blacks and a series win over a third-string French outfit warrant 50% of the shortlist.

 

Not to mention that the Wallabies could still finish their November tour winless for the first time in almost 50 years!

 

Don’t get me wrong, Wallabies captain Michael Hopper thoroughly deserves his place among the select four after carrying the weight of 22 other Wallabies on his back for the better of the first six months. But is he really in the same category as Samu Kerevi, who had five great games this year, including a 21-38 loss to All Blacks?

 

Ireland’s Robbie Henshaw was arguably his side’s best player in five Six Nations matches and continued that form in all three of the Lions Tests in the Republic. Does Samu’s five really outweigh Robbie’s eight?

 

While we are comparing centres, how has the best centre pairing at test level been snubbed for the top Award? No outside centre has performed at the level that Lukhanyo Am has this year and been so consistent.

 

Even in the Springboks’ four losses this year, Lukahnyo Am has been one of the side’s top performers. He stifled the Lions attack and added flashes of utter brilliance throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, his centre partner Damian de Allende was simply outstanding in every single test he was involved with this year. He tore Scotland and Wales to threads recently and barely gave the Lions or All Blacks an inch. Even in the losses to Australia, he was excellent.

 

To add further doubt to Kerevi’s puzzling inclusion, if you include South Africa A’s clash with the British and Irish Lions, Cheslin Kolbe has played the same amount of games for South Africa as Samu has for the Wallabies.

 

Despite claiming a Lions Series win and outperforming his opposite number in every test he has played in 2021, Siya Kolisi has also been ignored. As too has his long time mate Eben Etzebeth who has been the best lock in the game this year.

 

New Zealand’s crushing defeat to Ireland took some shine away from what has been an excellent year for the 2019 World Player of the Year Nominee Ardie Savea. Captaining his country for the first time, Savea produced titanic performances throughout the Rugby Championship and was just as impactful in the defeat to Ireland. While New Zealand’s results can be taken with a pinch of salt, Savea’s heroics can’t.

The 2021 Rugby Championship Team of The Competition

Should we jump into the coach of the year award where New Zealand’s Ian Foster has been nominated after losing in Ireland and thumping understrength tier 2 nations? At the same time, Wayne Pivac misses out on a nomination after a Six Nations title.

 

As AP Cronje put it, South Africa’s Jacques Nienaber also misses out despite winning a Lions Series after 18 months of no test rugby, Covid outbreaks in camp injuries to key individuals and a shit storm of press fury.

 

Winning a Lions Series after 18 months no rugby, Covid ripping through the camp, bio-bubbles, injuries and a fucking hurricane of press fury. Clearly Nienaber should win coach of the year.

But the rugby community don’t even believe he runs the show, so good luck to him.

— A-P Cronje (@rugby_ap) November 15, 2021

Let’s not forget Chile qualifying for the Rugby World Cup for the first time ahead of tournament regulars Canada.

 

World Rugby’s decision to allow 2020 debutants to be eligible for the 2021 Breakthrough Player of the Year is entirely understandable, but the snubbing of Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe is unfathomable.

 

Van der Merwe (31) broke Brian O’Driscoll’s record of 30 defenders beaten in the Six Nations as he shot into the test spotlight scoring five tries in the tournament, and started all three Lions tests. A feat few have achieved in their career, let alone their first year of test rugby.

 

 

But Wales’ Louis Rees-Zammit, who van der Merwe beat to a starting jersey, claims a nomination ahead of him. Marcus Smith is the darling of English rugby right now but does his three tests against Tier 2 option, a Lions cap against the Stormers and a start against Australia warrant a nod over van der Merwe?

 

Before the nominees were even announced, World Rugby decided to open six awards to public voting with the once renowned Men’s and Women’s XV Player of the Year amongst those. 

 

This will undoubtedly boost World Rugby’s Social Media reach for this week and their site traffic. But ultimately, it devalues the awards and turns them into a popularity contest. Remember the man of the match awards at the 2015 Rugby World Cup?

 

The 2021 Awards will not only be a popularity contest but will also be about who has the more considerable backing of their population. Australia’s 25 million potential voters will be split between Hooper and Kerevi for the Men’s XV Player of the Year. At the same time, Dupont and Itoje will get the backing of the 60 odd million of their respective populations.

 

World Rugby has, however, planned for this adding this little appendix in their release confirming the nominees:

 

“To maintain the integrity of the outcome, the panel will have the opportunity to review the public voting to ensure the recipients are fitting winners in their respective category.”

 

So the same panel that selected the nominees can overrule the vote if they feel the right person has not won it. What’s the point, then?

 

My suggestion was to follow the lead of football’s revered Ballon d’Or, where coaches and captains vote for the Player of the Year.

 

This would make the Awards even more prestigious as the victors will have gained the admiration and respect from their fellow competitors.

 

Instead, we are left with a lacklustre list of nominees that will rely on public opinion and the approval of the panel that picked them.