‘Thor’ Vermeulen scoops top awards
Affectionately known as “Thor”‚ Bulls No 8 Duane Vermeulen has nailed down the title of SA player of the year for a second time. He led the charge as the Bulls almost made a clean sweep at the annual SA Rugby awards that was announced electronically on Thursday.
The Bulls‚ champions of Super Rugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup‚ won in almost every category.
Vermeulen‚ who captained the Bulls to two titles‚ also won the Super Rugby Unlocked player of the year award.
As expected Bulls coach Jake White walked off with the gong for coach of the year‚ while Cornal Hendricks capped a brilliant season by being named Currie Cup player of the year.
The Lions’ Wandisile Simelane was named young player of the year. The former Junior Springbok star got his first taste of senior rugby in green and gold in the successful Springbok Showdown before going on to star for the Lions in the local competitions.
Stedman Gans‚ who made a successful transition from the Blitzboks to star for the Bulls after the World Rugby Sevens Series was cancelled‚ was named Springbok Sevens player of the year. The Blitzboks won two tournaments out of six to finish second on the standings.
Jaco Peyper‚ the long-time top referee in the country‚ was named referee of the year.
“It was a very tough season but Duane was superb — not only on the field‚ where his performances were on par with the very high standard we’ve become accustomed to from him‚ but he also led the Bulls with aplomb‚” Mark Alexander‚ president of SA Rugby, said.
“I would like to congratulate Jake and the Bulls on their season‚ as well as Wandisile‚ Cornal‚ Stedman and Jaco‚ but I also have to acknowledge all our players who worked under difficult circumstances to ensure that we saw some rugby on local soil in 2020.”