2006 IRB Awards (drip, drip)

October 6, 2006

On September 5th, the International Rugby Board (IRB) announced the nominees in three of 12 categories to be recognised at the 2006 IRB Awards.

Shortlists were published for IRB Sevens Player of the Year, IRB Under 19 Player of the Year and IRB Under 21 Player of the Year.

The IRB press release accompanying that first announcement of nominees claimed:

Shortlists for nominations in the IRB Player, Coach and Team of the Year categories will be selected by a panel of 10 former international players and announced after the current Tri Nations series.

It's been a month since that first announcement, and a couple weeks since the Tri-Nations concluded. I've searched the IRB website and google for news stories, but seen nothing yet.

Perhaps the winners are already forgone conclusions. I'm predicting another clean sweep:

Player of the Year: RICHIE McCAW (New Zealand)
Coach of the Year: GRAHAM HENRY (New Zealand)
Team of the Year: The New Zealand ALL BLACKS.