The Aviva Premiership ‘dream team’ for the season 2011/2012 has recently been announced. On Tuesday evening, in London, various awards for this season were handed out with the accolade for player of the season going to Harlequins, and England, captain, Chris Robshaw.
The team is dominated by players from table topping Harlequins and second placed Leicester, who both have five players in the team. The other two teams in the play-offs Saracens and Northampton are represented one and two players respectively.
Of interest may be the selection of Saracens South African hooker Schalk Brits. When one considers the selection of fellow hooker Richardt Strauss to the Rabodirect Pro 12 ‘dream team’ and all the very good South African hookers playing in the Super 15 it seems that hooker is the one position in which Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is spoilt for choice.
premiershiprugby.com
Harlequins back row forward Chris Robshaw was named Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season at the Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards at the London Hilton, Park Lane this evening (Tuesday 8 May 2012).
Robshaw made his Harlequins debut in January 2006, leading them to the top spot in the Aviva Premiership Rugby league table at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Redhill-born Robshaw captained Millfield before moving to Harlequins. He was educated at Cumnor House School, Surrey, becoming the captain of Harlequins last season.
“This award is richly deserved,” said Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea. “What I like about him is that no matter which accolades come his way or what he achieves we all know what comes first with Chris is the team.
“Chris is the sort of guy who’ll never get above himself. For him it is all about the team. He wants nothing more than for the team to be successful.”
This season Robshaw has had a stellar campaign not only leading his club but taking over the England captaincy after the World Cup, leading his side to four victories in five matches during the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship.
Three of the victories were away from Twickenham and the fourth was the 30-9 win over Ireland at HQ.
Despite leading his country this season, Robshaw has still played an impressive 16 Aviva Premiership Rugby matches for Harlequins. Last season he was ever-present, playing in all 22 Aviva Premiership Rugby fixtures.
The Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season award isn’t Robshaw’s only accolade from the Aviva Premiership Rugby Awards as he was selected by former England internationals Austin Healey and Ben Kay as captain of the ESPN Dream Team.
Robshaw was joined by Harlequins’ team-mates Mike Brown, George Lowe, Joe Marler, and Nick Easter.
ESPN analysts Healey and Kay picked five Leicester Tigers in their side, two from Northampton Saints, to add to the five Quins, alongside one player from Saracens and two from Exeter Chiefs.
The Land Rover Discovery of the Season award, presented to the best player aged 21 years or under on the day of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final (26 May 2012), was won by Saracens centre Owen Farrell.
The award caps a remarkable couple of seasons for 20-year-old Farrell, who also made his England debut this season.
The final major award, the QBE Director of Rugby of the Season, was presented to Rob Baxter, the man who has been instrumental in one of the game’s great stories of 2011-12. Baxter led his side into Aviva Premiership Rugby last season and in this campaign has guided the club to fifth in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table and a place in next year’s Heineken Cup.
The MBNA Try of the Season was awarded to Gloucester full-back Jonny May for his stunning strike against Harlequins.
The Aviva Premiership Awards evening began with one of the most famous figures in Aviva Premiership Rugby, Bob Casey, receiving the Aviva Community Player of the Season Award for his tireless work on a number of community projects.
Rob Baxter wasn’t the only Chief to leave with a trophy asGonzalo Camachowonthe Gatorade Game Changer of the Season Award.
To find a winner, Gatorade used a formula devised by Opta Sportsdata, the official Statistics provider of Premiership Rugby, to award players points for things like metres gained, number of carries, turnovers won and tackles made.
Tom Homer had a sensational season, the prolific kicker ending his campaign with 253 points from his boot to win the Gilbert Golden Boot after Jimmy Gopperth had held the trophy for two seasons.
In the try-scoring stakes it was all about Rob Miller as the Sale Shark crossed the line ten times to pick up the Guinness Top Try Scorer of the Season Award.
Concluding the list of award winners was Newcastle’s Luke Fielden who was named the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Player of the Season, as the Falcons lifted the trophy in a pulsating final against Saracens.
The winners and nominees in full were as follows:
Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season
Winner: Chris Robshaw
Shortlist: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), James Scaysbrook (Exeter Chiefs), Julian Salvi (Leicester Tigers) and Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)
Land Rover Discovery of the Season
Winner: Owen Farrell
Shortlist: Owen Farrell (Saracens) Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Christian Wade (London Wasps) and Luke Wallace (Harlequins)
QBE Director of Rugby of the Season
Winner: Rob Baxter
Shortlist: Rob Baxter (Exeter Chiefs), Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers) and Conor O’Shea (Harlequins)
MBNA Try of the Season
Winner: Jonny May
Shortlist: Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby v Exeter Chiefs), Michael Claassens (Bath Rugby v London Irish), James Downey (Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints), Christian Wade (London Wasps v Leicester Tigers), Luke Wallace (Harlequins v London Wasps)
Gatorade Game Changer of the Season
Winner: Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter Chiefs)
Runners up: Andy Powell (Sale Sharks) – 2nd, Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 3rd.
Aviva Community Player of the Season
Winner: Bob Casey
Shortlist: Bob Casey (London Irish), Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints), Will Fraser (Saracens) and James Hudson (Newcastle Falcons)
J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series Player of the Season
Winner: Luke Fielden
Shortlist: Danny Bibby (Sale Sharks), Ross Chisholm (Harlequins), Luke Fielden (Newcastle Falcons) and James Short (Saracens).
Guinness Top Try Scorer
Winner: Rob Miller (Sale Sharks) – 10 tries
Gilbert Golden Boot
Winner: Tom Homer (London Irish) – 253 points
ESPN Dream Team
Mike Brown (Harlequins); Horacio Agulla (Leicester), George Lowe (Harlequins), George Pisi (Northampton), Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester); Toby Flood (Leicester), Haydn Thomas (Exeter); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Dan Cole (Leicester), Samu Manoa (Northampton), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) Capt, James Scaysbrook (Exeter) and Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Past winners
Premiership Rugby Player of the Season, 2010-11: Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), 2009-10: Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), 2008-9: Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), 2007-8: James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby). 2006-7: Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers). 2005-6: Mike Catt (London Irish) and 2004-5: Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers).
Young Player of the Season, 2010-11: Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), 2009-10: Ben Youngs, (Leicester Tigers), 2008-9: Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), 2007-8: Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), 2006-7: Tom Rees (London Wasps), 2005-6: Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers) and 2004-5: Ollie Smith, (Leicester Tigers)
Director of Rugby of the Season, 2010-11: Jim Mallinder (Northampton Saints), 2009-10: Andy Key, (Leeds Carnegie), 2008-9: Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers), 2007-8: Dean Ryan (Gloucester Rugby), 2006-7: Pat Howard (Leicester Tigers), 2005-6: Philippe Saint-Andre (Sale Sharks), 2004-5: and John Wells (Leicester Tigers).