’Tis the season to hail great and good of our game
In his final World of Rugby column of 2017, Sportsmail’s ROB ROBERTSON looks back at the year that was for Scottish rugby — and picks out some of his highlights.
Player of the Year: John Barclay.
What a remarkable 12 months for the man who took over the Scotland captaincy from Greig Laidlaw during the Six nations.
After Laidlaw was injured against France, the flanker stepped up for the final three fixtures, retaining the captaincy for Scotland’s summer tour and also the november Tests.
At club level, he captained Scarlets to the Guinness Pro12 title with a play-off final win over Munster and was unlucky not to be picked for the British and Irish Lions tour to new Zealand.
Barclay enjoyed the best year of his career and it was topped off with the announcement he will leave Scarlets for Edinburgh next season.
Young Player of the Year: Scott Cummings.
It is only a matter of time before the Glasgow Warriors second row earns his first Scotland cap. The 21-year-old is playing well alongside Jonny Gray at club level and is one of the most athletic lock forwards around.
Gregor Townsend called him up to his Scotland autumn Test training squad and, although he did not play, he will be in the frame for the Six nations.
Breakthrough Player of the Year: Ali Price.
It is hard to believe that the Glasgow Warriors scrum-half only made his debut off the bench 13 months ago against Georgia in the final autumn Test match.
At that stage, he was behind both Laidlaw and Henry Pyrgos, and was neck and neck with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne in the fight for the no 9 jersey.
Laidlaw’s injury in the Six nations led to him being promoted to the starting jersey — and it doesn’t look like he’ll be giving it up any time soon.
Surprise Package of the Year: Darryl Marfo.
The 27-year-old was signed as fourth-choice loosehead prop at Edinburgh over the summer.
When the other three props at the capital club were injured, he took his chance.
A Scotland call-up followed as he and Warriors counterpart Jamie Bhatti were the only fit specialist looseheads available for the autumn Tests.
Even Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill admitted he wasn’t sure if he would be good enough for international rugby. He proved everybody wrong by holding his own against Samoa, new Zealand and Australia.
The Going Solo Award: Stuart Hogg.
His score against Ireland in the Six nations was down to his pace, quick thinking and ability to carve open the opposition defence.
From a lineout, Finn Russell found Huw Jones, who gave the ball to the Scotland full-back. He still had a lot to do as he set off but he sold Rob Kearney a dummy before diving over.
There is a Try in Team Award: Hamish Watson.
The Scotland openside flanker doesn’t score too often, but his try against Australia in Sydney during the summer was a thing of beauty. First Greig Tonks, Lee Jones and Duncan Taylor cut their way through the Wallabies’ defence.
Taylor drew Australia’s last man before getting the ball out for Watson to go over for a superb score.
The Cheek of It Award: Alex Dunbar.
Dunbar’s touchdown from a lineout against Ireland wins this award hands down.
The centre was the third man in the lineout and totally ignored by the Irish, who thought he was there to bring a nuisance factor to the set-piece. They were caught cold when the ball was thrown to him rather than any of the big locks. As the Irish defence stood and stared, he crashed over for a try that sent Murrayfield wild.
The Glorious Failure Award: Scotland (v New Zealand).
Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks. When Hogg set off on a mazy run to the corner, that looked like it was going to change. Only a fantastic last-minute tackle from Beauden Barrett saved the day for the visitors. Scottish hearts had been broken as the final whistle sounded soon after as new Zealand held on for a 22-17 win.
The Biennial Twickenham Agonising Experience Award: Scotland (v England).
Everything that could have gone wrong for Scotland did in the 61-21 defeat as the Scots’ wait for a win at Twickenham continued.
A second-minute yellow card to Fraser Brown and early injuries to Stuart Hogg and Mark Bennett put them up against it early on. With a midfield leaking tries, England ran in seven for an easy win.
The Annual Reason for Hope in the Six Nations Award: Scotland (v Australia).
Eight tries for Scotland in a superb performance saw a record 53-24 victory secured against the Wallabies. Australia may have had Sekope Kepu red-carded for a late and dangerous challenge on Watson but the game still had to be won.
As Edinburgh showed against Glasgow last weekend, winning with 14 men can be achieved. Scotland never came close to letting that happen, with Byron McGuigan scoring two tries on his first Scotland start. And remember, he wouldn’t have started if Hogg hadn’t been injured 20 minutes just before kick-off.
The Should Have Had An Early Night Award: Magnus Bradbury.
The back-row forward had been named Edinburgh captain by head coach Cockerill at just 21 years of age. Two months later, he had the honour stripped from him after a night out he was on went wrong.
Bradbury ended up injuring himself after falling over, with Cockerill first suspending the player and then taking the captaincy off him as punishment.
The Rugby Hero of 2017 Award: Doddie Weir.
Only one winner here. There were tears in many people’s eyes when Doddie Weir, who is suffering from motor neurone disease, delivered the match ball before the game between Scotland and new Zealand. The love for one of Scotland’s greatest-ever players could be felt throughout the stadium as he stepped on to the park with his sons.