Dusautoir takes top honours
24 Oct 2011
France captain Thierry Dusautoir has edged out some stiff competition to win the IRB Player of the Year Award.
Many thought that the winner of this prestigious accolade would come from the world champions. The All Blacks won the World Cup final on Sunday and while both Jerome Kaino and Ma’a Nonu were nominated in the top player category, Kaino was believed to be the strongest candidate for the award.
At the annual prizegiving on Monday, however, Dusautoir was honoured for his efforts in 2011. The powerful French flanker enjoyed two particularly good games in the semi-final and final. He was named Man of the Match in the decider even though the All Blacks won 8-7.
The All Blacks walked away with the Team of the Year accolade, while Graham Henry scooped the Coach of the Year gong.
The only South African to win an award was sevens star Cecil Afrika.
The founders of the Rugby World Cup and all previous winning captains and coaches were inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. In addition Gareth Rees (Canada), Jonah Lomu (New Zealand), Agustin Pichot (Argentina) and Brian Lima (Samoa) were also inducted in the Hall of Fame.
The 2011 winners:
Player of the Year – Thierry Dusautoir (France)
Team of the Year – New Zealand
Coach of the Year – Graham Henry (New Zealand)
Junior Player of the Year – George Ford (England)
IRB Sevens Player of the Year – Cecil Afrika (South Africa)
IRPA Try of the Year – Radike Samo (Australia), Wallabies vs All Blacks, Brisbane
The Spirit of Rugby Award – Wooden Spoon Society for their work with disadvantaged youth
IRB Women’s Personality of the Year – Ruth Mitchell
IRPA Special Merit Award – (chosen by fellow players for outstanding contribution) George Smith
IRB Referee Award for Distinguished Service – Keith Lawrence
Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service – Jock Hobbs
IRB Development Award – USA Rugby for their Rookie Rugby Programme
98 Comments
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24 Oct 2011, 18:19 pm
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvFshWX2ypgE%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player&feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=vFshWX2ypgE&gl=GB
24 Oct 2011, 20:13 pm
Good bye Keo. I find the level of trash on this site of no good. There is so little cosntructive discussion and there are so many sore losers it is exactly the reason I am an ab supporter. There are many things wrong with NZ rugby but flanking sore losing isn’t one of them. As for flaming dusautoir, the guys leadership and play potential is excellent, he is the first French captain who’s name I actually know. Well done to him. Good bye Keo unless you force us to register with our real names i wont be back
24 Oct 2011, 20:43 pm
TOTALLY deserved it!!!
Was a mountain of a man in the final
24 Oct 2011, 22:17 pm
Good choice! Dusautoir did excellently and deserves the honour.
24 Oct 2011, 22:27 pm
Jock Hobbs did plenty of the grunty spadework for this RWC before his spreading cancer sadly ended his personal contribution. He knows his life expectancy is now measured in days, or even hours, but he’s lived to see Richie and Mils get their centurion caps and his beloved ABs become world champions. This well-deserved honour for a dying man is the cherry on top of a tremendous, albeit tragic, final year of his life. Kia kaha and haere ra, Jock Hobbs!
24 Oct 2011, 23:24 pm
WOW
so now 1 great game, admittedly in the Biggest Match, is enough to win THE top Award as Player of the YEAR ?!
As wonderful player, and Captain, as Dusautoir clearly is this just cheapens the thing. For starters, Harinordorquy is consistently more brilliant for France than Dusautoir is. And Bok fans could also say S.Burger was ast a higher level for more games (albeit vs lesser opponents) than Dusautoir. If it all comes down to ONE match, then isnt MoM in the Final enough glory in itself ?
Jerome Kaino and Ma’a Nonu were consistently better over the past 12mths than all of these, Kaino was sensational on EOYT’10 which, if von Trapp isnt ‘lying’, is the start of the qualifying period for this Award.
25 Oct 2011, 00:18 am
Yes, Blackie, not everything has to be about NZ.
Great winner, the best of the bunch.
25 Oct 2011, 00:45 am
LOSER TROLL ALERT !
25 Oct 2011, 01:02 am
Nonu had a fantastic 3N but he was complete wet spaghetti in the S15. Kaino was consistently good all season. But, remember, these judgements are made at the END of the SH season but at the START of the NH one, so there’s a huge previous-season carry-over for all NH candidates.
25 Oct 2011, 02:11 am
@Helen(Helen)-5: Deserved it = he got his reward for being MoM, thats it. How was is his game against Tonga? What about Canada or Japan? He wasnt that great against NZ in pool play either
Great final for sure, this is a sentimental vote, absurd.
Kaino played all but 30seconds in the RWC in imperious form, was an outstanding player through the 3N and S14, his YEAR was better than Dusatoirs.
25 Oct 2011, 02:14 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-54: Cmon Tackles- he had one good game. This award is for the YEAR not the RWC final.
Its sentimental nonsense at best, it really is.
IRB just keep shootin themselves in the foot
25 Oct 2011, 02:15 am
@Labok(Labok)-53: Sums it up, the FINAL, not the YEAR
25 Oct 2011, 03:53 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-56: Take your All Black goggles off Panties! Nonu was absolute rubbish for the first 6 months of the year totally useless, Jamie Roberts was the better inside centre at the world cup and he was completely eclipsed in the final by Mermoz. Kaino has been very consistent all year, but Keiron Read is a far better back row player then him as is Schalk Burger, again in the world cup final he came second place by a huge distance to his opposite man Dusautoir. There was no obvious outstanding individual this year, so it all came down to the biggest, most important match of the last 4 years and Dusautoir came up with a monster of a performance, that will be remembered for many years.
25 Oct 2011, 03:58 am
Har har har pantie…this just cheapens the thing…to late for that, it happened a while back when ritcheeee got the gong for showing up!
25 Oct 2011, 04:06 am
@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-63:
All said and done I would have given it to him based solely on his performance in the final, the man was incredible.
25 Oct 2011, 04:15 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-65: One of the greatest individual performances by a back row player that I can remember for many years.
25 Oct 2011, 04:19 am
@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-66:
Maybe Brussow v BIL but a totally different type of game and impact on the two occassions.
25 Oct 2011, 04:25 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-67: Yeah I was actually thinking about it a bit more after I wrote it and thought of Brussow in 2009! Very different styles of play, but both were in a different league to to all the other players on the pitch at the time.
25 Oct 2011, 04:31 am
@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-68:
Yip, Brussow changed the fortunes of a whole team…and country all on his own. The Froggie did everything but win the match, he just seemed to be everywhere, tackling, running and the people watching with me all said at different time something along the line of…man, that guy is good!
25 Oct 2011, 04:44 am
Brussow spent the whole of last year in the convalescent ward and then, when he came on this year, it amounted to little more than a cameo (in which he had hardly any impact) before he was crocked again! The superstar is a really little more than a supersicknote!
25 Oct 2011, 04:47 am
Richie McCaw — crook foot with a HUGE target on it and all — survived the year and the onslaught of the fromage-scoffing surrendeur-minkeys and lifted Bill! That man is not a crybaby woosie!
25 Oct 2011, 04:48 am
I will say it one more time, Tackles, you have lost your edge!
25 Oct 2011, 05:44 am
C-rap decision
Kaino player of the year
end of story
25 Oct 2011, 08:04 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-72:
A cocky young slart called Ibartfast
Opined that Tacks’ skills surely can’t last
But alas for the Slart
Tack’s barely hit start
So, Slart, brace yourself for the next blast!
25 Oct 2011, 08:09 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-74:
Three and a half hours and that is the best you can come up with? May I suggest you stop digging…
25 Oct 2011, 08:42 am
Do better.
I dare you.
25 Oct 2011, 08:49 am
I heard the IRB awards, where applicable, were weighted 80% on performance at RWC.
Based on that, Dusautoir deserved the top player award. He has played consistently through the tournament and was a standout in the final. Well done to him.
The closest AB was Kaino, but he had a very subdued final compared to other matches. If the weighting was skewed in favour of performance during the RWC, then what the nominees brought to the show piece game would have had a massive influence
Weepu and Nonu played well during the Cup, but both failed to bring their A game to the final and didn’t warrant consideration either.
25 Oct 2011, 09:31 am
welll deservedd!!!!!
a tacklingg machine.
6,7,8 for frogss Best in worldd.
25 Oct 2011, 10:00 am
@greatest13gerber(greatest13gerber)-78:
Get a new phone or pc – your sticky keys are irritating or are you permanently gesuip when you post?
25 Oct 2011, 11:06 am
Surprised Keo hasn’t picked up on this
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby-world-cup-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=522&objectid=10761610
When McCaw gets up off the ground it appears he says the words “Eye gouge” to the ref. But otherwise no official complaint – guess we’ll have to wait for footage from the crowd
25 Oct 2011, 14:45 pm
Dusatoir was massive in the final, no doubt. But I agree with others — he wasn’t a consistently excellent player all year. I would have gone for Kaino. If the IRB POY award is just going to become the MOM award for the Final, that’s fine, but the IRB should make that clear.
25 Oct 2011, 22:37 pm
A lot of biased NZ fans on here cribbing that Dusatoir only had 2 great matches and didn’t deserve to win. Did you watch him all season in the Heineken Cup or in the French Top 14 league? I doubt it.
26 Oct 2011, 01:01 am
@LastMinuteDropGoal(LastMinuteDropGoal)-82:
Dusatoir won Man of the Match in 2007 game against NZ W/C with a massive 38 tackles and a try. He has been a top-class flank forward for several years now, not just two games – Kaino doesn’t remotely compete at his level. He is a giant of the game and was a colossal towering above all others on the field in the biggest game ever played in NZ.
26 Oct 2011, 01:32 am
@Schalk is Pote Fouries daughter(richardmarais)-49: so did SA get favoured by home town decisions in 95? I seem to recall a match should have been abandoned, but they went ahead… but only because the Host nation would have been eliminated if the match was abandoned, do you remember the ladies sweeping water off the field? and the subsequent gold watch for the “best ref at the tourny” ?
double standards anyone?
26 Oct 2011, 01:34 am
1067.RugbyRulz: Reply to this comment
24 Oct 2011, 08:40 am
Lets put our ‘Player of the Tournament’ out there
Thierry Dusautoir
Wasn’t too hard predicting the obvious… Dusautoir was magnificent with daylight second.
26 Oct 2011, 01:39 am
@gonzo(gonzo)-80: Yes I have to agree with the French here… game is done and dusted and still the AB’s are crying.
The AB won, we applaud their victory… but come on have some grace. Not even a congratulatory mention to Le Bleu. The lowlife media gatecrashed the French final repast on NZ soil, they were asked to leave but kept on with their ‘dog nipping at heels mentality’. Report say the pri<ks were spat on. Not good but perhaps bad habits are contagious.
Will the pi$$ poor media in NZ grow up, we are tiring of the charade.
26 Oct 2011, 01:50 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-86: like the whinging from a nation about Quade being booed, but its own crowds chant another teams superstar as a “w@nker”, yet is outraged at NZs perceived lack of sportsmanship? this from the underarm nation? puh-lease, hypocritical to the extreme..
Aussies talking about grace, hysterical really…
26 Oct 2011, 02:16 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-87: Pops you can justify the behaviour of NZ (Media) any way that makes you feel good. NZ was on display and showed its form. Cannibalising one of its own products because the lad moved to Australia, at the tender age of 10 is a joke. ( BTW I am not a Quade convert, I prefer Barnes.)
Dredging up past incidents, *** for tat really does not cut it. We can all explain why Richard Hadlee was called a wanker… sadly you havent bothered to google why.
Grow up, move on and enjoy the spoils. ALL BLACKS world champions
26 Oct 2011, 02:20 am
I apologise to fellow posters for digressing ……Now back to the accolade rightfully deserved
T H I E R R Y D U S A U T O I R
26 Oct 2011, 02:57 am
Francois Hougaard as a nominee for best player in RSA… what a joke… the guy missed on average just under 50% of his tackles and that was as a replacement in the latter halve’s of the game… unacceptable!
26 Oct 2011, 03:00 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-88: why should I have to google why hadlee was called such… why are you condoning this behaviour?
what makes the hadlee chant any different to how Quade was treated? if anything its a lot worse…
the whole hadlee thing I brought up as an example of the double standards you seem so happy to defend.. if youre comfortable with that then fair enough..
26 Oct 2011, 03:39 am
@LastMinuteDropGoal(LastMinuteDropGoal)-82: did you? bollox
and yes i watched a few games, average at best
not biased at all, just honest
26 Oct 2011, 03:44 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-85: He wasnt that good for foks sake. A try – well taken, and some tackles and runs, Look here, he had opportunities that came his way and he took them.
But one solid performance does not make any player, the Player of The Year – is that too much for you to understand.?
And dont give give us the time to be gracious nonsense either. We have been extremely low key in this victory, relieved is more like it. The Ab’s were pretty pissed off when the final whistle went as Dusatoir and co had ample opportunity to apologise for the eygouging, Kaino’s nuts being twisted, and a few other indiscretions that DID HAPPEN.
But hey, we took it all on the chin, no official complaints from the team, and deserved the win.
26 Oct 2011, 08:05 am
@Schalk is Pote Fouries daughter(richardmarais)-43: …I was watching with an Aussie who says the BL cheated the springboks
26 Oct 2011, 08:12 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-85:
Did he play against NZ in the pool games?
If he did i did not notice him at all.
In fact i saw the games and he really wasnt that great in any of the pool games.
But you seem to know better, how did he go in the 6 nations?
27 Oct 2011, 05:53 am
Dusatoir won the prize. It’s done and dusted. Get over it. At least it didn’t go to Wynand Olivier!
27 Oct 2011, 08:44 am
This RWC has now finally stained our “proud” rugby history! And I was a part of the whole scam! *******! I’m beginning to feel sorry that I did what I did to keep the Boks out. And I can tell you, Joubert, bloody Yarpie, was paid as well! We are disgusting. We are the pits. So is the IRR. What the heck, it’s out of me. I AM RICH!
27 Oct 2011, 09:08 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBqetaCfgo&feature=youtu.be
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