Congratulations to Kieran Read.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/9472308/All-Blacks-reign-supreme-again-at-IRB-awards

Wouldn't have minded Halfpenny but IMO Read is the right choice. Superb all year. So influential and is now the most valuable player in New Zealand rugby. It is Read's absence that will give All Black fans the heebie jeebies more than any other at present.

Well done to the rest of the awards winners too.

Hard to argue with Read, he has been superb this year  

Best man one, even without a kicking game.

The stand out player of the year, well deserved.

Well done son.

No one deserves it better the Kieran Read. Well done to him.  

well done the number ONE number 8

Player of the Year : Kieran Read



Coach of the Year : Steve Hansen



Team of the Year : All Blacks



I tell you, these accolades are starting to get embarrassing.

In truth, any other result would have been a bad mistake. Read is streets ahead.

GloriousEmpire wrote:Player of the Year : Kieran Read



Coach of the Year : Steve Hansen



Team of the Year : All Blacks



I tell you, these accolades are starting to get embarrassing.

DOD Glorious Empire

I quite agree

Totally disagree... NZ winning this is making a mockery of the sport and devaluating the game.
 
Its like playing the PlayStation with my son... Why bother if he's always going to win...
 
 
 
 
 

Spoiler:

Halfpenny is one of those types of players that is likely to be nominated again (and again) and would have won on other years. Most accurate goalkicker in world rugby in terms of % this year? Seems like it- one of those you sit there and go when he's from the sideline...'Will he miss this one...?' and sure enough...he gets it.
Well done Read, ABs and I havnt looked at the list yet..

Halfpenny has had a good couple years with Wales from 2011 - now. It's nice to see him get recognition worldwide, which is personified with being awarded player of the 6 Nations and Lions. I don't think he was that far off Read.

Read has been very good for a few years too but not seemed to get much publicity. This year his form has been phenominal and it's been hard to ignore. Read is by far the best player on a list of outstanding candidates and this award is thoroughly deserved. Some people may be unhappy with the decision but I guess you can never please everyone. Well done Kieran Read .

Not wishing to diminish the achievement of any of those involved in these awards, but they do run the risk of being just a bit of a side show gimmick.

To make it more interesting Id welcome a more subjective award for something like International rookie of the year.ie Piutau, Folau,etc. or Etzebeth last year, just to make it a bit more interesting.

Well deserved, congratulations to the man.  

aucklandlaurie wrote:
Not wishing to diminish the achievement of any of those involved in these awards, but they do run the risk of being just a bit of a side show gimmick.

To make it more interesting Id welcome a more subjective award for something like International rookie of the year.ie Piutau, Folau,etc. or Etzebeth last year, just to make it a bit more interesting.

How about the "bit of a character" award for the honey badger.

The Saint wrote:Halfpenny has had a good couple years with Wales from 2011 - now. It's nice to see him get recognition worldwide, which is personified with being awarded player of the 6 Nations and Lions. I don't think he was that far off Read.

Read has been very good for a few years too but not seemed to get much publicity. This year his form has been phenominal and it's been hard to ignore. Read is by far the best player on a list of outstanding candidates and this award is thoroughly deserved. Some people may be unhappy with the decision but I guess you can never please everyone. Well done Kieran Read .

+1 Well said

Best thing about it is his 2 girls do get to say at Kindy..."well myyyyyyyyyyyy daddy is the bestest rugby player in the whole wide woooooorld.." and for once...be right!  

Well done KR justly deserved

The NZ/AB's have to be applauded - I always imagine NZ as some crazy quazi scientic rugby experiment taking place in the middle of the pacific, which in a way it is. Congrats one and all.

Stat for you - Kieran Read played less than 25 games in 2013 (12 internationals).

Halfpenny - overrated. Glad that joker didn't win. Well done Read. Shame more NH players aren't like him. They might beat a SH side then.

Toast wrote:Halfpenny - overrated. Glad that joker didn't win. Well done Read. Shame more NH players aren't like him. They might beat a SH side then.

The sooner trolls like you are removed from these boards the better.

kingelderfield wrote:

Toast wrote:Halfpenny - overrated. Glad that joker didn't win. Well done Read. Shame more NH players aren't like him. They might beat a SH side then.

The sooner trolls like you are removed from these boards the better.

Pay it no heed. It comes from jealous bitterness. 1/2p is a fine player and unlucky this year to come up against the invincibles. His time will come.

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kingelderfield wrote:

Toast wrote:Halfpenny - overrated. Glad that joker didn't win. Well done Read. Shame more NH players aren't like him. They might beat a SH side then.

The sooner trolls like you are removed from these boards the better.

Pay it no heed. It comes from jealous bitterness. 1/2p is a fine player and unlucky this year to come up against the invincibles. His time will come.

yes Read has come on leaps and bounds since throwing that howler interception to Manu last year, hope he doesn't drop the POTTY when they present it to him

Scratch wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kingelderfield wrote:

Toast wrote:Halfpenny - overrated. Glad that joker didn't win. Well done Read. Shame more NH players aren't like him. They might beat a SH side then.

The sooner trolls like you are removed from these boards the better.

Pay it no heed. It comes from jealous bitterness. 1/2p is a fine player and unlucky this year to come up against the invincibles. His time will come.

yes Read has come on leaps and bounds since throwing that howler interception to Manu last year, hope he doesn't drop the POTTY when they present it to him

Well we know that the UK is unlikely to be picking up any chef of the year awards.  Even that chef you managed to produce, blumenthal (sounds like you might have imported him too) poisoned everyone five minutes after he was awarded his star.

Thats a bit tough GE, What about Nigella? or is she a bit heavy handed with the icing sugar?

Let not a bad word be said about Nigella or Keiran

She's imported too.

Makes me wonder if people actually born here do anything at all.

disneychilly wrote:
Wouldn't have minded Halfpenny but IMO Read is the right choice. Superb all year. So influential and is now the most valuable player in New Zealand rugby. It is Read's absence that will give All Black fans the heebie jeebies more than any other at present.

Well done to the rest of the awards winners too.

Agree with all the above but out of interest for the NZ fans (or others) were Read to be unavailable who would be next in line at the moment?

Would it mean a return to the squad for Victor Vito? Could a rejig happen in the back row with a flanker moving across? (as an England fan I'd advise against this!) or is there yet another up coming star making waves in the SXV?

GloriousEmpire wrote:She's imported too.

Makes me wonder if people actually born here do anything at all.

Our recent census revealed that over 1/4 of all Kiwi's were born overseas...

GloriousEmpire wrote:She's imported too.

Makes me wonder if people actually born here do anything at all.

No they don't, they import colonial slave labour to do their menial jobs for them, welcome to the UK Glorious but please make sure my spuds are peeled by the time i am home from the pub. ta much.

Scratch wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:She's imported too.

Makes me wonder if people actually born here do anything at all.

No they don't, they import colonial slave labour to do their menial jobs for them, welcome to the UK Glorious but please make sure my spuds are peeled by the time i am home from the pub. ta much.

I thought the colonials just popped in to pick up the trophies these days?

And any IRB ranking points that are left lying about.

just really surprised that there was ever any doubt about this award. best player on the best intl team. most tries ever by an intl #8/winger

seriously, great player, great year.

Why are #8s called that and nothing fancy like flanker or lock? Such a shame.

Great personal achievement by Read. He's definitely added new skills to his game over the last couple of years. I said a while ago he's our new indispensable McCaw.

Could Ardie Savea make it as a test 8? He's played there but would he hack it at test level?

better being called #8 than "scrum-plug", no?

Ha, scrum plug, nice work quins! Sounds a little bit unfortunate you're right. Maybe 8 is the only option.

The one thing that needs to be said is that they finally got the shortlist right. Players generally deserved to be on that list and other players like Habana or DeVilliers can consider themselves unlucky not to have been selected. But that just tells me that this nonsensical notion of 'contributing' to a game was scrapped and they ended up just selecting players who played well. No need to justify what they did well in certain matches and how that 'contributed' to their team's efforts. They just played well and stood out as a result. You're still going to get certain positions who stand out for attention (if you're a front row forward, you basically have to save someone from choking whilst scoring a try at the same time to get noticed) but we finally got someone getting the award about whom generally everyone agrees. So that is something at least.

So well done Kieran Read - future NZ captain - and well done to the ABs for their incredible year and well done to the other people nominated. We've had some very good rugby mixed in throughout the year and it will be looked back on as a classic vintage. Which makes Read's award that more special I suppose.

PS King Carlos, Kaino could be an option as back up 8 as he will be playing there for the Blues with Luatua's star rising. McCaw has played there as well in some games at times this year but there genuinely isn't anyone near Read's calibre. We've learned to cope without McCaw but you are right to say we would be up poo creek without a paddle if an injury happened to Read. Which is not to say, as in McCaw's case, that we won't find anyone in the next two years. There are a few problem areas still to work on.

Well done Read, thoroughly deserved - and nice to see a wing pick up the award for a change.
 

Tomorrow night at the Steinlager awards (New Zealands rugby awards) its going to be interesting to see how Kieren Read and the ABs go against New Zealand competition.

Down here we do Referee of the year awards as well, this year its between Jackson and Pollock.

Do the referees get contribution criteria to how they contributed to the winning of one side?  

Any referee that exercises the tip tackle law isnt condidered eligible to be nominated for an award for the next five years.

Usually the referee who allowed the most half backs to put the ball under the locks feet at scrum time wins the big referee award, the services to the advancement of rugby medal.

Referees that penalise McCaw when he's offside or cheating are instantly disqualified, as are those who allow tackling of dan carter.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:The one thing that needs to be said is that they finally got the shortlist right. Players generally deserved to be on that list and other players like Habana or DeVilliers can consider themselves unlucky not to have been selected. But that just tells me that this nonsensical notion of 'contributing' to a game was scrapped and they ended up just selecting players who played well. No need to justify what they did well in certain matches and how that 'contributed' to their team's efforts. They just played well and stood out as a result. You're still going to get certain positions who stand out for attention (if you're a front row forward, you basically have to save someone from choking whilst scoring a try at the same time to get noticed) but we finally got someone getting the award about whom generally everyone agrees. So that is something at least.

So well done Kieran Read - future NZ captain - and well done to the ABs for their incredible year and well done to the other people nominated. We've had some very good rugby mixed in throughout the year and it will be looked back on as a classic vintage. Which makes Read's award that more special I suppose.

PS King Carlos, Kaino could be an option as back up 8 as he will be playing there for the Blues with Luatua's star rising. McCaw has played there as well in some games at times this year but there genuinely isn't anyone near Read's calibre. We've learned to cope without McCaw but you are right to say we would be up poo creek without a paddle if an injury happened to Read. Which is not to say, as in McCaw's case, that we won't find anyone in the next two years. There are a few problem areas still to work on.

Cheers for the update on the no 8 situation and also much agree with the points about the shortlist finally being correct! As with many NH fans I lost faith with the award a bit when BOD missed out in '09 despite a Heineken Cup, Grand Slam and stellar Lions tour. Great to see a player such as Read not only putting in performances that allow pretty much everyone to agree, but also that right decision being made!

Forgotten Kaino was returning this season which adds a very interesting slant to the 6 jersey as well with Luatua and Messam performing so well this year. Prior to the Rugby Championship I was actually interested in the idea of McCaw moving to 6 with Cane or even Luke Braid at 7 alongside him. The way McCaw, Messam and Luatua stepped up for the RC was impressive though.

6.Messam, Luatua, Kaino, Luke Whitelock
7.McCaw, Cane, Braid, Savea
8.Read, Vito

Whilst you can't argue the biggest injury blow would be Read there is no doubt the resources there to find a back row that could function in his absence.

EDIT: Don't forget Ardie Savea. Victor Vito ,
 
I reckon he'll come back with some fire, and plays 8 historically before his conversion, and is doing so again now for his club.
 
http://www.3news.co.nz/Victor-Vito-still-on-All-Blacks-radar/tabid/415/articleID/318132/Default.aspx
 
He's chosen to stay in NZ and fight for his place in the AB's rather than chasing money overseas. A rare sign of loyalty and commitment that some others (SBW for example), lack.
 
He's now captaining Wellington in the ITM, working with skills and mental coaches to make the changes, adding components to his game that AB coaches felt he lacked.
 
Vito has a prominant place in his homeland's community, great integrity and will make an important member of the leadership group. Something for the selectors to consider for 2015.

Vito is a more natural ball player than Read, and despite what you might believe is almost identical in height and weight. If Vito can improve his accuracy (notably dropping the ball with the try-line becoming in the England 2012 match that probably would have seen the AB's recover and snatch a win in my opinion), and his physicality he will be an asset at 8.

I am a big Vito fan and have always said he has suffered from having to play 6 most of the time. All the skills of Read but just has not shown the fire in the belly and the physicality.

Well done Read, world class through and through, and very humble in his interview. Thoroughly deserved