13/12/2019
This week saw the annual WPRFU awards take place at Kelvin Grove in Newlands once again with much excitement from players and administrators within the Western Province rugby structures.
The evening kicked off with former WP Rugby Craven week player Ricky Schroeder acting as master of ceremonies to the enjoyment of all present.
One of the keynote speakers on the night the Group CEO of WP Rugby Mr Paul Zacks welcomed the crowd and highlighted the fact that 2020 would be a special year on several fronts. Including the fact that WP Rugby would be re-locating to the Cape Town stadium in 2021 next year would be the opportunity for many fans to watch their final match at the historic DHL Newlands rugby stadium.
The first, second and third-team winners of the various leagues were all presented with trophies including the handover of the Bella Roma Shield to Young Stars RFC for the team with the best discipline.
First up of the WP Rugby players was the under 19 section which saw Ryan van Ster win most promising player, Mnombo Zwelendaba win Best Backline player and De Wet Marais winning Best Forwards player awards. The under 21 component saw Gift Dlamini as Most Promising player, David Kriel as Best Backline player and Schalk Erasmus as Best Forwards player for 2019.
In addition to the player awards, individuals who had served the WPRFU for more than five years were recognised. These included Philip Daniels ( Young Wesleys ), Davey Simonse ( Allandale), James Bezuidenhout ( Atlantis), and Arthur Reichardt ( Goodwood ).
The President of the WPRFU Mr Zelt Marais went on to thank the members for the service and congratulated the winners on their accolades, in particular, the Women’s divisions which saw an abundance of accolades on the night. These included the DHL WP Rugby Women’s side who were the Inter-Provincial champions for the third successive year and Aimee Barret-Theron who was crowned as Referee of the Year. This in itself is an incredible achievement in a sector dominated by men.
Women’s player of the year went to Nokubonga Siko from Busy Bees and club player of the year to Ruan Laubscher from Durbell.
The senior’s divisions were highlighted with awards to Herschel Janties who was awarded Best Back and Best Player of the year while Dillyn Leyds was recognised as the MVP ( Most Valuable player ).
On behalf of the WPRFU, I’d like to thank our partners and sponsors African Bank, Score Energy drinks and CTC Sports for their support on the evening and during the year, we look forward to continuing our excellent relationship