Victory, not awards is Rassie’s hope

The age-old scenario of two dogs fighting over a bone, and the third walking away with the prize, could be revisited this weekend, only it could be a case of four dogs fighting and the fifth walking away with the bone.

Though All Black flyhalf Beauden Barrett could become the first player to receive the World Rugby Player of the Year award for a third straight time at the annual gala ceremony in Monaco on Sunday, Ireland flyhalf Johnny Sexton has emerged as the favourite after his team’s shock 16-9 win over the All Blacks last week.

Sexton was also instrumental in steering Ireland to their third Six Nations clean sweep earlier this year.

The 33-year-old Sexton is the only player from the northern hemisphere nominated for the award, with the other four players representing New Zealand and South Africa.

Aside from Sexton and Barrett, dynamic All Black try-scoring leftwing Rieko Ioane is on the list, along with powerful Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx, the 2017 SA Rugby Player of the Year, and livewire scrumhalf Faf de Klerk.

De Klerk was brilliant in the June series against England and in the recent Rugby Championship, but his shares dropped somewhat after being available for just one of the Boks’ November Tests, turning out against France and failing to cover himself in glory.

According to the Kiwi website stuff.co.nz, Marx’s chances had also declined significantly after his woeful throwing in at lineout time in their European tour opener against England at Twickenham, and he had dropped to fifth and last place among the contenders, according to bookmakers.

While Sexton is now the hot favourite, the joint odds for a potential upset are on Barrett and De Klerk, who could become only the third Bok to earn the award since it was introduced in 2001, with Schalk Burger (2004) and Bryan Habana (2007) having previously secured the accolade.

Should Sexton walk away with the award, it would break New Zealand’s stranglehold on the accolade, with All Black players having won it every year since 2012.

Significantly, this is the first time since 2014 that the Boks have players among the five nominees for the prestigious prize.

Ideally, however, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus would prefer a win against Wales in Cardiff tomorrow over an award for any player, but it would go a long way in putting the Boks back on the world map.