An important addition to the English rugby calendar has been announced, The Rugby Awards, presented by Gallagher.
It takes place at the The Brewery, London, hard by the Barbican Centre, on 3 June.
It brings together the RPA, Premiership Rugby, the PWR and, last but not least, the RFU. Its arrival can only make us wonder why such an appropriate climax to the season had not been established long ago. Congratulations to the instigators, among whom, I suspect, we can number the RPA and Christian Day, their General Secretary. France has long had an equivalent evening, La Nuit du Rugby, dressed up in all the glamour you would expect from that nation. Better late than never.
On the women’s side there will be awards under these headings:
England Women’s Player of the Season:
PWR Player of the Season;
PWR Breakthrough Player of the Season;
PWR Director of Rugby of the Season;
PWR Top Try Scorer.
Each award comes thanks to a sponsor, respectively: LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Clinique, Defender, Asahi and Christopher Ward.
There is also the RPA Blyth Spirit Award. The recipient may well receive the warmest cheer of the evening.
Short lists of nominees have already been drawn up:
Zoe Aldcroft, Abby Dow, Meg Jones and Maud Muir for the Red Roses award;
Sarah Bern, Ellie Kildunne, Meg Jones, Hope Rogers and Emma Sing for the PWR award;
Lilli Ives Campion, Millie David, Clàudia Peña and Niamh Swailes for the Breakthrough award (a category I always feel needs the most careful definition);
Ross Chisholm, Sean Lynn, Nathan Smith and Dave Ward for the DoR award;
and May Campbell and Millie David for the top try-scorer award. Both totalled sixteen tries. (six months each or slice the trophy down the middle?)
Decisions, decisions
Then how on earth do you pick a winner in these categories? This may reflect one of the weaknesses of the modern game, as I see it: the popularity of the individual award in the supreme team sport. How do we fairly distinguish between the efforts of a tight-head prop and a winger?
In the case of the Red Roses, it’s hardly possible to draw a line between the quality of the four contestants. Does Zoe Aldcroft win the day by virtue of being the captain?
In the case of the PWR best player, do we bear in mind the relative standings of the clubs represented? A player may have performed outstandingly for a club marooned near the bottom of the table. Conversely, does a fine performance for the trophy-winning side come more easily?
On the coaching front we may have our only short-odds winner, Sean Lynn. Since this is the very first edition of what we must hope will remain an annual feast, it seems appropriate to honour Lynn for his hat-trick of wins with Gloucester-Hartpury. He won’t be back for a while. Nor for that matter will Dave Ward, who has chosen to move elsewhere.
Only two female players from beyond English shores come into the reckoning, and their backgrounds could hardly be more different. Hope Rogers from Pennsylvania has been a stalwart for the USA Eagles for a record 52 caps; she has been equally loyal to Exeter Chiefs. Clàudia Peña, as her category makes plain, is a new shooting star from Barcelona, over a decade younger than Rogers. She has helped give Quins a sharp edge in attack.
Congratulations to them; they remind us of the magnet that English rugby remains for players from across the world.
A Big Evening
We can sense the importance of this inaugural evening by some of the prices asked for. A Gold Table, though priced at £4,990 + VAT, will not be the most prized sit-me-down of the evening. You can opt for the Diamond Table, priced at £7,490 + VAT. A “player” will be present, though the publicity doesn’t make clear whether your party can decide on the one player you insist on having, or whether you have to take pot luck.
And your choice?
