Towards the end of last year, due to what I regard as some questionable decisions and a flawed voting system, I detailed my proposal for a new way to determine the World Rugby Player of the Year award – the most prestigious individual accolade in the game.
In this article I will explain who should have been the winners and nominees in previous years.
I only began following rugby religiously in 2002, so will forego commentary on the 2001 ceremony.
2002 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Fabien Galthie
Nominees: Richie McCaw
Joe van Niekerk
Brian O’Driscoll
Jason Robinson
2002 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Jonny Wilkinson
Nominees: Fabien Galthie
Richie McCaw
Joe van Niekerk
Brian O’Driscoll
Verdict: Fabien Galthie had a good year, leading a fantastic French side on six occasions, including playing every match of their Six Nations Grand Slam effort. But this was the year Jonny Wilkinson announced himself as a world-class player, being instrumental in England winning eight of their nine Test matches.
Highlighted by victories over the big three southern hemisphere nations, including scoring 21 and 22 points against the All Blacks and Wallabies respectively, not to mention his 30 point effort against Wales, this was a sign of things to come.
2003 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Jonny Wilkinson
Nominees: Imanol Harinordoquy
Richie McCaw
Steve Thompson
Phil Waugh
2003 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Jonny Wilkinson
Nominees: Doug Howlett
Richie McCaw
Joe Rokocoko
Steve Thompson
Verdict: Despite an abysmal end to their World Cup campaign, the All Blacks put together a very impressive string of performances. Howlett and Rokocoko in particular were incredible, scoring 14 and 17 tries respectively, many of those being individual marvels.
Throw in their solid defence and fantastic work rate and they are well deserving of their nomination over Harinordoquy and Waugh.
2004 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Schalk Burger
Nominees: Serge Betsen
Gordon D’Arcy
Matt Giteau
Marius Joubert
Verdict: No issue with winner or nominations.
2005 World rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Dan Carter
Nominees: Bryan Habana
Victor Matfield
Richie McCaw
Tana Umaga
Verdict: No issue with winner or nominations.
2006 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Richie McCaw
Nominees: Dan Carter
Chris Latham
Paul O’Connell
Fourie du Preez
Verdict: No issue with winner or nominations.
2007 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Bryan Habana
Nominees: Felipe Contepomi
Juan M. Hernandez
Yannick Jauzion
Richie McCaw
2007 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Bryan Habana
Nominees: Felipe Contepomi
Juan M. Hernandez
Richie McCaw
Fourie du Preez
Verdict: How Fourie du Preez wasn’t nominated this year baffles me, he was my pick for player of the tournament at the 2007 World Cup and a very close second to eventual winner Bryan Habana for player of the year, with Habana’s stronger performances prior to the World Cup giving him the edge.
2008 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Shane Williams
Nominees: Mike Blair
Dan Carter
Mike Jones
Sergio Parisse
2008 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Shane Williams
Nominees: Dan Carter
Jean De Villiers
Richie McCaw
Sergio Parisse
Verdict: In a tough decision between Williams and Carter, I eventually decided on Williams as a testament to his awesome individual try-scoring efforts throughout the season, ultimately finishing with 14 five-pointers.
De Villers was the South African Player of the Year, and McCaw was his typical, strong self all season, playing one of the best games of his career against the Springboks. This pair should knock token northern hemisphere nominees Blair and Jones out.
2009 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Richie McCaw
Nominees: Tom Croft
Matt Giteau
Jamie Heaslip
Brian O’Driscoll
Francois Steyn
2009 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Fourie du Preez
Nominees: Heinrich Brussow
Brian O’Driscoll
Morne Steyn
Matt Giteau
Verdict: Let’s get it out the way, this was the All Blacks worst season since 2004 and McCaw was not the best player in international rugby. Fourie du Preez was absolutely dynamic, being the major influence in the Springboks claiming the Lions tour and Tri-Nations title, and should have won the award. Brian O’Driscoll was a very close second after leading Ireland to their first Grand Slam since the Six Nations’ inception, and completing a season in which they won all but one match.
Morne Steyn and Heinrich Brussow had brilliant debut seasons, both especially dominant during the 3-0 whitewash of the All Blacks. Steyn kicked the series-clinching penalty against the Lions and scored all of the Springboks’ 31 points in Game 2 against the All Blacks, while Brussow dominated his counterpart McCaw in all three games.
Due to my selection criteria only involving five nominees, Croft, Heaslip and McCaw are dropped in favour of Wallabies Player of the Year Matt Giteau.
2010 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Richie McCaw
Nominees: Kurtley Beale
Imanol Harinordoquy
Victor Matfield
Mils Muliaina
David Pocock
2010 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Richie McCaw
Nominees: Kurtley Beale
Victor Matfield
David Pocock
Kieran Read
Verdict: Despite Kieran Read having a breakout season and claiming New Zealand Player of the Year, Richie McCaw was the deserved winner of the award after a fantastic return to form for both himself and the All Blacks. David Pocock had his first world-class season to announce himself as one of the premier 7s in world rugby, while Kurtley Beale had by far the best season of his career to date, scoring seven tries and proving a handful for every defence he came up against, as well as nailing a penalty with the last kick of the match to lift Australia over the Springboks for their first win at altitude in 47 years.
Victor Matfield was a shining light in a dour season for the Springboks and earns his nomination ahead of Harinordoquy and Muliaina.
2011 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Thierry Dusautoir
Nominees: Will Genia
Jerome Kaino
Ma’a Nonu
David Pocock
Piri Weepu
2011 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Jerome Kaino
Nominees: Will Genia
Ma’a Nonu
Sean O’Brien
David Pocock
Verdict: The greatest injustice in this award’s history is Jerome Kaino losing out to Thierry Dusautoir this year. Kaino was the undoubted player of the Rugby World Cup, playing every minute of the All Blacks’ campaign, scoring four tries, making immeasurable attacking contributions, and leaving would-be attackers broken with his shuddering defence.
Dusautoir was awarded the title based on one outstanding Test performance – albeit a World Cup final.
Sean O’Brien was strong all season but went to a whole other level during the World Cup, to be the pick of the northern hemisphere players at the tournament. He knocks Piri Weepu out of the nominees who, like Dusautoir, was awarded a nomination due to one man of the match performance during the year.
2012 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Dan Carter
Nominees: Owen Farrell
Richie McCaw
Frederic Michalak
2012 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Richie McCaw
Nominees: Dan Carter
Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe
Bryan Habana
Kieran Read
Verdict: Two of the oddest nominations in the award’s history, Owen Farrell was not even a regular starter for England at the time and Frederic Michalak played only five games for an under-performing French side.
Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe was immense for Argentina during their first year as part of the new Rugby Championship, while Habana had easily his best season since 2007 and in turn was crowned South African Player of the Year.
Read continued to prove himself as the premier No. 8 in world rugby, while Dan Carter had a year worthy of nomination, highlighted by a masterclass against Scotland and kicking the winning drop goal against Ireland, but McCaw was the best player in international rugby this season.
2013 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Kieran Read
Nominees: Eben Etzebeth
Leigh Halfpenny
Sergio Parisse
Ben Smith
2013 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Kieran Read
Nominees: Jean De Villiers
Leigh Halfpenny
Michael Hooper
Ben Smith
Verdict: Despite Leigh Halfpenny’s fantastic season, highlighted by being named both player of the tournament and player of the series during the Welsh Grand Slam of the Six Nations and Lions Tour victory respectively, this was a clearcut decision for Read, who produced one of the most dominant seasons by a player in recent memory.
Ben Smith had his breakout season in international rugby, scoring 11 tries and being consistently sound in all facets of the game. Although Eben Etzebeth announced himself to the world with a string of intimidating performances, his countryman, captain and South African Player of the Year Jean De Villers was a worthier nomination.
Australian Player of the Year Michael Hooper carried his world-class form of 2012 into this season, edging Sergio Parisse.
2014 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Brodie Retallick
Nominees: Wille le Roux
Julian Savea
Jonathan Sexton
Duane Vermuelen
2014 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Brodie Retallick
Nominees: Richie McCaw
Julian Savea
Jonathan Sexton
Duane Vermuelen
Verdict: Only issue with selection this year is that of Wille le Roux over Richie McCaw. Although le Roux was an attacking marvel for the Springboks during the June Test series, I don’t believe that warrants nomination over McCaw, who was consistently world class the entire season.
2015 World Rugby Player of the Year
Winner: Dan Carter
Nominees: Michael Hooper
Greg Laidlaw
David Pocock
Julian Savea
Alun Wyn Jones
2015 Brad’s rugby player of the year
Winner: Dan Carter
Nominees: Schalk Burger
Ma’a Nonu
David Pocock
Ben Smith
Verdict: The big decision – Carter or Pocock? I’ve gone with the former by the narrowest of margins.
Pocock had a superb season, not even coming close to playing a bad game, with games for the ages against England and Argentina.
But Carter was the best player on the field in the three biggest games of the year (quarter, semi and final), not to mention Bledisloe 2, and you can’t really get any better than that – despite Pocock’s more consistent season.
Ma’a Nonu had the best season of his career and was probably the third-best player at World Cup. Despite fan favourites Milner-Skudder and Savea seeming like more obvious choices, Ben Smith was superior this season, the unsung hero of the All Blacks backline.
Schalk Burger rounds out my list of nominees, I am astounded by this guy’s work rate and his shear ferocity in both defence and attack. He led the World Cup in carries and carries over the mainline, and made the fourth-most tackles in the entire tournament.
Who?
Guest
Completely disagree. The difference in the AB attacking backline between the first and second Bledisloe Tests was Ma'a Nonu. Carter was poor without him. Is it any coincidence that the games where Carter is rated as excelling are the games where Nonu dominated? For mine, there were two players this year who were head and shoulders above the rest in terms of their impact on the game. One didn't lose a game, the other lost two. Carter had a great RWC Final, with his composure at 70 minutes being the key to the win. But, let's be honest, the Wallabies couldn't score points against 15 men, and DC had front foot ball whenever he wanted it all game. Any 10 can look good there. The ABs were a bit panicky when the score got to 21-17, but DC just kept them calm - knowing that his forwards would give him the platform to take the droppie, and that the scoreboard pressure would evaporate. I've spoken with a lot of Kiwi mates, they think that DC's award this year is justified only over his career, that Nonu was clearly the best AB this year. Compare that with guys like Bismarck and Burger, whose teams were completely ineffectual without them. I'd argue that another 5 minutes of Bismarck against both the Wallabies and Japan and the Boks would've won both those games. Because the momentum left the Boks when he left the field. Compare that with POC's influence on the Irish team. Creevy on Los Pumas. But the two who had the biggest impact, who were the hardest for oppositions to contain, all year, were clearly Ma'a Nonu and David Pocock. And Pocock, for mine, was the player of the year.
Brad Moran
Roar Rookie
Cheers mate, haha unfortunately he didn't make the cut.
Brad Moran
Roar Rookie
The players do have their own award; "IRPA Player of the Year" - IRPA is the International Rugby Players Association.
wardad
Guest
Still in the Launchbay .......
Taylorman
Guest
One difference between that and temperature is the world cup matches are deemed more valuable. Sides are trialling combinations. Amongst the wider squad. In the north they had a series of so called friendlys, matches they werent trying to win as much as learn about their side compared to say, a semi final. Temperature however doesnt care whether it is in a world cup or not. It is what it is. Pool matches i agree though where its a mismatch.
The Slow Eater
Roar Rookie
Good idea. Maybe also they shouldn't be able to vote for one of their countrymen?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yep, Jones had a case as well. 3 wins for Japan is sensational. How you align Jones alongside Cheika...Japan alongside Oz makes it tricky. Both sides improved immensely...glad I didnt have to pick it Rugby... :-)
Misha
Guest
Generally I fully agree with statistically how the World Rugby Rankings are calculated - it depends on who you play, their ranking, and whether home or away - all good..but a big problem with the model is that for some strange reasons during the RWC they give more points for World Cup games..this significantly distorts the model..its like measuring temperature one way for 10 months of the year then saying that 5 degrees Celsius is actually 10 degrees Celcius for 2 months of the year..doesn't make sense. Any that's why there were such big ranking movements in the World Cup. Seriously - for validity and credibility a measurement tool should stay the same. Comments??
puff
Guest
Gents consider this: The truth of the matter is Cheika should never have been considered for Coach of the year and I agree with other comments. The RWC tournament committee has been sloppy and phlegmatic and short sighted. If you critique all the relevant coaching teams, how would you rate EJ with the Japan Blossoms? What about the sterling work achieved by the Arg coach Daniel Hourcade, Argentina now have to be counted among the big boys and that don’t happen quickly. If you consider the financial resources, player numbers and lack of adequate facilities in Georgia, Romania and Tonga and other fledgling unions, it’s a credit to their minnow organizations. Perhaps it may have been prudent to recognize the bigger picture and the efforts of these coaches, as they all performed above their weight. Cheika as coach of the year, don’t make me laugh, he never had to climb a mountain. A fair portion of the team played for the Waratahs under his direction. Therefore, were cognizant of his expectation on all levels. The Australia ARU has all the above in abundance, what the Wallabies were missing, was discipline, commitment, belief and someone to recognize how best to optimize and best utilize the different skill sets. The talent was there for all to see. If you contemplate how Eden Park shattered his dream earlier in the year. A man of his ability would have instantly understood the skill level required to beat the best in the world. He never had to endure the dilemma some of the minnow nations struggled with, such as the lack of equipment, sponsors, appropriate administration and experienced staff. If you reflect on such a support base, these under resourced unions did their nation proud. Remember their mountain was just to participate. All these teams played attractive rugby, with their only desire to strut their stuff on the biggest stage in the world, against the best in the world. Rugby was the winner. Perhaps Steve Hansen should have received that award, as he definitely displayed an aptitude, capabilities and a strategy that far exceeded anything Cheika and Larkham provided in the final?
ohtani's jacket
Guest
In ordinary years, the award is heavily weighted toward the EOYTs since that's when the nominees and winner are announced. In 2009, the Boks lost 2 out of 3 games on tour and lost the No.1 ranking to the All Blacks who were unbeaten and hammered France in the final game of the season. That sparked as much of a turnaround in the All Blacks' fortunes as the 2004 end of tour match in Paris. That seemed to be the reason why it went to McCaw. In reality, it should have gone to O'Driscoll.
RobC
Roar Guru
Thanks Brad. Fun topic. But, but. Where's Joe Launchbury??
cuw
Guest
only test trys and big sam scored against rubbish - i mean reds .... so its not like running over a test fulback or beating a test center for speed :)
Buzzard
Guest
Try of the year in my opinion goes to Dane Coles in Bledisloe 2 at Eden Pk. Sam Whitelocks run away 55m try for the Saders would go close too.
CA3ZAR
Roar Pro
I would like to have seen Ma'a Nonus try in the RWC final a nomination for try of the year, it was scintillating stuff and very rarely seen in a World Cup final! Ridiculous !
fletch
Guest
how did Sergio Parisse make the cut in 2008. He got absolutely schooled by an 18 year old O'Connor on test debut. Also how did Izzy or Hooper not make the cut in 2014
Rugby Tragic
Guest
Pretty good argument there TM, however on that premise ... what about Eddie Jones and his Brave Blossoms. Japan before this RWC had only ever won, a single World Cup pool match - to win three was outstanding. However agree that Cheika was worthy.
Phantom
Roar Rookie
Get the players to vote. At least they have some real idea about the skills on display. The fishheads are mainly guessing.
Because cricket has legitimate performance stats that can be measured objectively. Cricket playwr rankings have a mothodology that more accurately provide sustantial statistical analysis to aid in the selection of these awards. Rugby does not have them collated for such purposes
Jibba Jabba
Roar Guru
Well for oz coaches appears to be getting a team to behave as they should and play like men, which they all did not do in any event...
cuw
Guest
not the last 10 years and never the best 12. the issue with Maa was, he played well in black during the 2nd half of his career. he played great only in the last 3 years regularly. for starters, he learnt to kick and stopped the shoulder charge and tackled low. that was not in his game before 2012. he was also a pathetic super rugger player, never played to his potential and experience as an all black , especially for blues. i recall he was looking to go to europe but changed his mind. what he did right imo was to maintain his size and fitness. he has always been around the 110kg mark and not carrying flab. and he has been lucky with injuries, especially his legs have been ok. so his speed was always there. u cannot compare players like him and say he was best ever. maybe in the professional era...