Durban - Springbok No 8 Jasper Wiese was crowned the England Premiership Players' Player of the Year at Wednesday night’s RPA Awards held in London.
It is a very cool psychological boost for the Springboks in this World Cup year to have one of them claim the most prestigious award in the English game.
Wiese harvested the greatest number of votes from his fellow professionals to cap off a fantastic season with the Leicester Tigers, the reigning Premiership champions.
The 27-year-old former Cheetah has featured fourteen times in the league, scoring six tries. He also made 130 tackles, 11 offloads, and 218 carries, the fourth-highest in the competition.
The winner of the @eterlast Players’ Player of the Year is…
Jasper Wiese - @LeicesterTigers#EterlastRPAAwards pic.twitter.com/QJCCtK4EEu
Jasper Wiese started at No 8 in eight of the Springboks’ 13 Test matches in 2022 and played off the bench in another. He is in competition with Duane Vermuelen for the No 8 starting berth at the World Cup later this year in France and veteran Duane Vermeulen will be feeling the heat.
The 36-year-old played just four Tests in 2022, two of them off the bench.
On winning the award Wiese said: “It’s very humbling to be named the winner of such a prestigious and special award. I’d like to thank the players from around the competition for voting for me, and I just want to thank my Leicester teammates for their support too.”
The Springboks begin their World Cup year with a Rugby Championship match against Australia in Pretoria on July 8.
Fifteen Boks are currently in a preparation camp in Durban. A second camp with more players will be held on the last weekend of May.
@MIkeGreenaway