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Springbok wing the big winner at Bulls awards
Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cameron Hanekom, Neels Volschenk and Jakkie Cilliers were the four top performers at the Bulls’ Annual Awards evening for 2024 on the hills of Silver Lakes last week.
Performers from all the Bulls’ representative teams, which include the Bulls, Bulls Juniors and Bulls Daisies, as well as other stakeholders to the Blue Bulls Company (BBCo) was present with around 600 invited guests at this grand event.
“Once a year, we take time to pause and take stock of how well our athletes have done and this year is particularly special because we celebrate our teams as a collective for carrying the badge with pride and excellence,” said Chief Executive of the BBCo, Edgar Rathbone.
He pointed out that the Bull Daisies have gone on to achieve a remarkable feat in being crowned back-to-back champions as they define what professional women’s rugby looks like in South Africa, whilst the senior men have made us all proud with Grand Final and Quarterfinal appearances in the European-based competitions. The junior system continues to be the best in the country, producing quality rugby players who have featured for the Junior Springboks and outstanding graduates who feature prominently in our senior teams.
Springbok duo, Arendse and Cilliers walked away with three awards each on the night. The latter, who enjoyed a stellar season with the Daisies, set the record for the most points scored in the SA Rugby Women’s Premier Division. She was awarded the accolade as the backline Player of the Year as well as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Player of the Year award.
Arendse walked away with the Investec Champions Cup Players Player of the Year, the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Player of the Year and the Senior MVP award.
Vainah Ubisi received the Daisies Forward Player of the Year award, with her teammate and sprint queen, Patience Mokone, taking the team’s Player’s Player of the Year crown.
In the Investec Champions Cup, David Kriel was voted as the best Backline Player of the Year. Kriel also won a second, the Team Man of the Year award, which he shared with Gerhard Steenekamp. Wilco Louw was crowned as the Forward of the Year, whilst Embrose Papier walked away with Players Player of the Year in the category.
In the Vodacom United Rugby Championship category, Johan Goosen took the Backline Player of the Year prize with Elrigh Louw etching his name of the Forward of the Year trophy. Cameron Hanekom was voted as the Players Player of the Year with Arendse the tournament’s Player of the Year.
The under-21s saw Philip-Albert van Niekerk walking away with the Backline Player of the Year award whilst recent graduate, Juann Else took the Forward of the Year prize. Neels Volschenk was voted for, by his teammates, as the Player of the Year.
In the special awards category, Bandise Maku was celebrated for his outstanding work off the field as the Brightrock Employee of the Year winner.
On the field, Cameron Hanekom bagged his second award of the evening, walking away with the Newcomer of the Year award whilst Merwe Olivier was celebrated as the Junior MVP of the Year, to round off a wonderful evening of celebration.
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