Erasmus and Kolisi among six rugby nominations for SA sporting gongs

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi are among six rugby union nominees for the 15th annual SA Sport Awards that were announced on Saturday.

Makazole Mapimpi, Ronald Brown, the Springboks and the South African Rugby Union make up the six-strong nominees in various categories for their achievements between 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2021.

Kolisi has been nominated in two categories – the Sports Star of the Year as well as the People’s Choice Sport Star of the Year.

Mapimpi is one of three nominees in the category for Sportsman of the Year, while Blitzbok star Brown has been nominated as one of the Newcomers of the Year.

The Springboks have been nominated as Team of the Year; Director of Rugby Erasmus is on the list for the Coach of the Year Award; and SARU has been nominated in the category for Sports Federation of the Year.

“These nominations once again underline the success we’ve had on rugby fields all over the world in the last couple of years and we are very proud of all the nominees,” said President of SA Rugby Mark Alexander. “We are operating in challenging times in a difficult environment, but with everyone in the game prepared to pull in the same direction and to work for the same end-goal, anything is possible, as Rassie, Siya, Makazole and the Boks have proved over the last couple of years.

“And Ronald has once again shown us what can be achieved by good old resilience, belief and hard work.

“Our gratitude goes out to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for the recognition, and I would like to wish all the nominees well for the awards this weekend.”

The winner of the People’s Choice Sports Star of the Year, where Kolisi is up against Ntando Mahlangu (Paralympic sprinter), Brad Binder (GP motorcycle racer), Bianca Buitendag (Olympic surfer) and Tatjana Schoenmaker (Olympic swimmer) will be determined by a public vote.

The winners will be announced on Saturday, 12 March in Durban.