Ian Foster and Scott Robertson were not recognized at the New Zealand Rugby Awards
Both Scott Robertson and Ian Foster led their teams to seven straight Super Rugby titles to celebrate in style, and one nearly brought the All Blacks to a glorious World Cup final, but they were both passed over for New Zealand Rugby awards.
The coaching gongs provided the main talking points on Thursday, in perhaps the most intriguing twist of a night that saw Ardie Savea, the All Blacks’ metre-eating machine and world player of the year, win the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial award for overall best player
Neil Barnes, the supremo of Taranaki, defeated Robertson for the title of domestic coach of the year. Robertson finished his perfect coaching career with the Crusaders with a well-deserved victory over the Chiefs in Hamilton. Neil Barnes led the Amber and Blacks to a popular NPC triumph in a remarkable turnaround from the previous year.
Cory Sweeney, the Black Ferns sevens guru, won the national coach of the year award instead of Foster, whose All Blacks tenure almost ended in a fairytale finale at the World Cup when his undermanned team lost to the Boks 12-11 in an exciting final in Paris.
The New Zealand women’s sevens team won six straight tournaments after losing to Australia in the opening ’22-23 event final in Dubai. Their winning run eventually reached 41 games before Australia defeated them in the most recent Dubai final last week
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It’s difficult to argue against either coach award because Barnes and Sweeney both led incredible campaigns, but it did take something exceptional to defeat the All Blacks coaches of the past and present. As Foster relinquished control of the national team, Robertson performed admirably to lead the injury-ravaged Crusaders team through a challenging season finale and complete his flawless record in the franchise competition. Meanwhile, Foster recovered from a difficult four years to virtually complete a legendary World Cup victory.
A month after he rightfully won the World Rugby championship in Paris after an incredible World Cup, Savea had a successful night at the made-for-TV awards. In addition to being named the All Blacks’ best player for a record-breaking three years, All Blacks No. 8 also took home the Kelvin R. Tremain Memorial award for the second time.
The All Blacks and Black Ferns sevens teams that won the world series were each given awards for national team of the year.
After winning the Meads Cup for a third straight season, South Canterbury’s perfect Heartland campaign earned them the title of New Zealand men’s team of the year. Meanwhile, the Auckland Storm won the women’s equivalent after winning the Farah Palmer Cup.
For her work with the Northland Kauri, championship-winning coach Rawinia Everitt was named national competitions coach of the year.Scott Barrett, the captain of the Crusaders, and Lucy Jenkins, the loose forward for Matatū, won the corresponding Super Rugby player gongs.
In his final rugby season in New Zealand, champion halfback Aaron Smith was named the Tom French Memorial Māori player of the year, while Akuila Rokolisoa and Stacey Waaka won the corresponding sevens player awards. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u was named the best player for the Black Ferns, and Will Jordan’s finish after some Damian McKenzie magic against Uruguay in the World Cup was voted the fans’ try of the year by the general public.
