OPINION: World Rugby's showpiece awards needs a big rethink

Senior rugby writer Brenden Nel gives his thoughts on the annual World Rugby awards, which took place on Sunday night...

It is supposed to be the pinnacle of the Rugby calendar - a star-studded awards evening in Monaco where the sport’s best are rewarded for their efforts, and how much applause given should be the only discussion point.

But once again World Rugby’s annual awards ceremony fell short of the mark, not only because of some of the awards given, but also because of the message it sends out to the international rugby community.

It has never been more clear that not only does the World Rugby awards ceremony need a rethink, but also better communication so that there aren’t endless debates about who wins what award and where the different aspects of the sport reside in its hierarchy.

Look, award ceremonies are always going to be contentious, and no matter who wins, there is always going to be some debate about someone who missed out, but two of the awards in particular made little sense in the greater scope of things, and said more about where the sentiment is in the governing body than actual form.

But first, it is necessary to say that they probably got it right when it came to World Rugby’s Men's Player of the Year.

PSDT A WORTHY WINNER

Pieter-Steph du Toit is a worthy winner and is the first Springbok to win it twice.

And it was desperately close. All four nominees were outstanding this past season, and it is tough not to feel a tinge of emotion for Eben Etzebeth, who winless after three nominations.

There is a separate debate about how a standout player is honoured in a team sport, but few will gripe about the consistent excellent performances put in by all four nominees, nor the winner in this case.

If anything, there is a bias to players who are in the spotlight - the halfbacks, wingers and others that steal the limelight. Flankers are aplenty in nominations over the years, but the front row is almost always ignored.

Ox Nche’s performances this year were oscar-worthy, yet no prop ever makes the nod. Is this fair? It’s hard to argue the value of the scrum for the Springboks, but in lauding the best in the business, the front row never gets the nod.

WHY WAS RASSIE SNUBBED?

Then there is the snub of Rassie Erasmus for World Coach of the year. Despite dominating the Rugby Championship, taking a clean sweep of the November tour and posting an 84.6 per cent win record this year while expanding the depth to the best it has been in history, he was again ignored.

It is difficult not to wonder if he is still being punished for his 2021 video on referees, for which he received a ban. Erasmus has always been rugby’s bad boy and isn’t a favourite up north, but that shouldn’t count when it comes to rating his achievements.

Erasmus did win in 2019, and was nominated in 2018, when Joe Schmidt won, but since his video he hasn’t been anywhere near a nomination.

While he will probably just shrug it off, and Bok fans will point to the golden Webb Ellis and Rugby Championship trophies in the cupboard, it did leave a bad taste.

BIGGER QUESTIONS ABOUT COACHING AWARD

But there are bigger questions around the award than just Erasmus being ignored.

Why, for instance, have World Rugby canned the separate awards for men and women’s coaches, or the team of the year award - the latter which was noticeably absent on a night of award winners?

And does the coach award send out the message that the Olympics - one two day tournament - is a greater achievement than going through an entire 15s season with success? Or the World Cup for that matter?

Jerome Daret of France walked away with the honour for winning the Olympics, and while France did fabulously in front of a fiercely partisan home crowd in their own home stadium, the odds were in their favour and it was hardly a surprise.

And it makes you wonder what the criteria is? France didn’t win the HSBC SVNS Series this year - Argentina did. So was it solely on the Olympics? And is World Rugby now saying that a big tournament is bigger than the international fifteens season?

Because in 2023 Jacques Nienaber won the World Cup and Andy Farrell was given the coach of the year award to the shock of many? In 2015 Michael Cheika won coach of the year despite Steve Hansen taking New Zealand to back to back World Cup wins?

MORE CONTENTIOUS CHOICES IN 2025

Next season the coach of the year will again be a contentious one - with a British and Irish Lions tour in Australia, and the winner of that series will be a massive contender. But then there is the 2025 Women’s World Cup in England as well, and would the winner there not be more of a contender for coach of the year?

Or what happens if the Boks go unbeaten through the season and Erasmus wins two tests in New Zealand - surely a massive achievement as well?

The point is - it would make sense to split the coach of the year into mens’ and womens’ categories as the games are very different - and to define what is more important - a Sevens tournament, or test rugby?

And then it comes to the darling of the northern hemisphere - the mercurial Antoine Dupont. While an exceptional player who starred in France’s final win in the Olympics, Dupont played in just three tournaments in the regular season, and was on the bench for most of the Olympics.

7s PLAYER OF THE YEAR SENDS OUT WRONG MESSAGE

To choose him as Sevens Player of the season ahead of those who have made the shortened form of the game their lifeblood, and when he didn’t even feature for most of the tournaments, smacks of favouritism and a gimmick win.

Make no mistake, Dupont is an exceptional player, but to award him the best in Sevens trophy sends out a very poor message to those who travel the globe and play in different conditions and slog it out every week in the sport.

It leaves the impression that a firm 15s favourite just has to pitch up in Sevens and the accolades will go to him. And it undermines trying to sell the Sevens series as a different sport.

Some may not agree with this, but it seems to be based purely on his two tries in the final, and the fact the whole northern hemisphere ranks him as the best in the world on a rugby field, regardless of what happens in the rest of the series.

That's why the entire awards ceremony needs a rethink. There will always be debates about which player is better but without set criteria, and knowing where different parts of the sport rank in its hierarchy, there will always be criticism.

And until World Rugby proves us all wrong, it will be hard not to believe that Erasmus is still serving a sentence for his outburst in 2021.