Rare double for brilliant Barrett
FLYHALF JOINS DAN CARTER, RICHIE MCCAW England’s Eddie Jones voted best coach in the world.
New Zealand flyhalf Beauden Barrett joined an elite trio of All Black greats when he was named World Rugby Player-of-the-Year for a second successive year on Sunday.
Barrett became only the second player to win the title of world’s best player two years in a row, matching the achievement of his former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in 2009 and 2010.
Barrett beat international team-mate Rieko Ioane, England’s British and Irish Lions duo Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje and Australian fullback Israel Folau to the award.
The 26-year-old kept the title in New Zealand for a sixth successive year and joins McCaw and former All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter as the only players to win the award more than once.
Carter and McCaw won the award three times.
“I’m very proud and surprised. I wanted to be better than last year and I still think I have plenty more to go,” Barrett said after receiving the award in Monte Carlo.
He had another remarkable year in the All Blacks number 10 jersey and celebrated his 50th test against Samoa with a two-try, 24-point haul.
He finished the drawn Lions series as top points scorer with 41 and captained the All Blacks for the first time in the win over the Barbarians earlier this month.
New Zealand had more cause for celebration when Portia Woodman won the women’s Player-ofthe-Year trophy while her Black Ferns colleagues were hailed as the Team-of-the-Year.
Woodman played a major part in helping the New Zealand women lift the World Cup for the fifth time in Ireland in August.
The 26-year-old winger scored a remarkable 13 tries and finishing the competition as top try and points scorer.
New Zealand’s world champions were the first women’s side to win the best team accolade while Eddie Jones, the Australian who has led England to 22 wins in 23 matches including nine victories this year, was Coach-of-the-Year.
New Zealand winger Rieko Ioane won Breakthrough Player-ofthe-Year, while the Sevens Players-of-the-Year were US’s Perry Baker and Kiwi Michaela Blyde.
Joaquin Tuculet’s score for Argentina in the first test against England in June was hailed as the Try-of-the-Year. –