Newly crowned world champions England have capped off a remarkable year by scooping all the major awards at the International Rugby Board Awards held in Sydney tonight.
England was named IRB International Team of the Year, Clive Woodward IRB International Coach of the Year and match winning fly half Jonny Wilkinson IRB International Player of the Year in association with Heineken at the glittering awards ceremony held at Wharf 8.
Some of the greatest names in the rugby world were among the 900 strong crowd, including John Eales and Gavin Hastings, who gathered to celebrate the best rugby performances from around the globe in the past year.
New world champions and Team of the Year
England, the first Northern hemisphere side to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, were deserved winners of the Team of the Year award after winning 22 of their last 23 Test matches, including the Six Nations Grand Slam over France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy earlier this year.
Their only loss coming against France in a Rugby World Cup warm up match when head coach Clive Woodward chose to run his “B” side.
Led by inspirational skipper and towering enforcer Martin Johnson, the most experienced and technically disciplined side in world rugby also possesses the world’s best drop goal exponent and one of the game’s best tactical kickers in their mercurial No. 10.
Wilkinson the wonder boy
A distinguished international panel of former players selected 24 year old Wilkinson as the world’s best player, a tag he has unofficially carried for much of the last two years.
Wilkinson’s deadly accurate marksmanship and cool head under pressure has seen him become England’s biggest trump card. Those qualities were evident again in last night’s thrilling final, kicking the winning drop goal with just 30 seconds remaining in extra time to give his side a 20-17 victory.
Wilkinson picked up the award ahead of teammate Steve Thompson, Wallabies flanker Phil Waugh, New Zealand’s Richie McCaw and Imanol Harinordoquy from France.
For Woodward, who took over as coach at the end of 1997, his award is just reward for a meticulously planned RWC campaign that has been four years in the making.
In his second Rugby World Cup campaign the former England centre worked tirelessly to blend his team into a clinical world force, equally capable of playing an expansive game or keeping it tight.