News

Sharks duo pick up prizes

September 30 2008

The Sharks ended the month on top of the Currie Cup table, but the Durban-based side's scrum-half Ruan Pienaar and Head Coach John Plumtree have also finished September with personal accolades.

Springbok ace Pienaar - back starting in his favoured number nine jersey - was the unanimous choice of the eight Currie Cup coaches around the country as September's Player of the Month award, after an outstanding month directing traffic at the base of the Sharks scrum.

Plumtree, meanwhile, was a popular choice as the season's third Currie Cup Coach of the Month after guiding the Sharks to successive wins over the Blue Bulls, the Free State Cheetahs, the Valke and the Lions during September.

Pienaar and Plumtree were each rewarded with R10,000 in prize money, whilst they were also presented with exclusive miniature replicas of the Currie Cup trophy.

The coaches were also asked to nominate additional players this month, with Jean Deysel (August's Player of the Month), Keegan Daniel, Cobus Grobbelaar, Jongi Nokwe and Gurthro Steenkamp all being mentioned as form players.

However, in the final analysis, Pienaar picked up five votes overall, with Bulls pair Morne Steyn and Wynand Olivier and towering WP lock Andries Bekker next best on the list of nominated players.

"It's a great honour to win this award but there were a host of other players in the country who could've won it, too, so I'm just very, very happy to have been recognized," said Pienaar.

"On a personal level, I had a disappointing Super 14, so this award aside, I'm just glad to be out there playing 80 minutes every week and I'm loving every minute of it.

"There is plenty of competition for starting places, but the guys are always willing each other on and I guess it's a nice headache for the coach too.

"Everyone has a smile on his face at training and that makes it a pleasure to train and then to run out there representing the Sharks come the weekend."