Buy Viagra
Buy CIALIS online

Boks conquer the sports world

Tuesday, 19 February 2008

Photo by John Gichigi/Getty Images for Laureus
Percy Montgomery, Bakkies Botha, Coach Jake White, Schalk Burger, Bryan Habana and Butch James pose with a Laureus trophy

South Africa's brilliant performance in winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup and going through the tournament unbeaten has earned them the 2008 Laureus World Team of the Year award.

Watched by a global television audience, coach Jake White and players Bryan Habana, Schalk Burger, Bakkies Botha, Percy Montgomery and Butch James received the world's most prestigious sports award from rugby legends Sean Fitzpatrick and Hugo Porta at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg yesterday.

Montgomery said: "This award goes to all the players who can't be here tonight. I'm sure they would all have liked to be here.

"It's also a tribute to all those who have played for South Africa since 2004. This win took a lot of planning. We gelled at the right time, and that was the key."

Habana said: "I was a youngster in 1995 when Joel Stransky kicked that (drop)goal over. To carry on my dream, we have inspired the rest of a nation. Hopefully we can help to make a better South Africa for all."

Laureus Academy member Morné du Plessis, who was the 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning team manager, said: "The country is really proud of you. Comparisons in the team game are complicated, and the game has changed.

"Both teams have written epic chapters in our rugby history and shown that sport can bring people together."
Montgomery was the highest points scorer in the competition, but Habana, the top try scorer, was acknowledged as the player of the tournament.

Os du Randt, who also played in the 1995 World Cup-winning side, retired after the 2007 tournament as the most capped forward in South African rugby history.

The other nominees for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award were Italian football team AC Milan, the Australian cricket team, Ferrari, the German women's football team and the Iraqi men's football team.

The Laureus World Sports Awards is the only global sports awards honouring the best sportsmen and women across all sports each year.

The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury - the 43 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a collection of the world's greatest sportsmen and women, all living legends of sport.

The winners in the other categories were: World Sportsman of Year: Roger Federer; World Sportswoman: Justine Henin; World Breakthrough: Lewis Hamilton; World Comeback: Paula Radcliffe; World Sportsperson with a Disability: Esther Vergeer; World Action Sportsperson: Shaun White.

SA's Laureus history
South Africa has a rich history in the Laureus World Sports Awards: its patron, one of its founders, three members of its Academy and three previous award winners are South African.

Former President Nelson Mandela is the patron of the "Oscars of sport", which were co-founded by another South African, Johann Rupert, the executive chairman of Richemont, along with Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche.

Three South Africans have won Laureus awards: Mike Horn (World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year 2001), Ernst van Dyk (Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability 2006), and Gary Player (Laureus Lifetime Achievement award 2003). Swimmer Natalie du Toit was nominated for the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award in 2004.

And three South Africans - Horn, Player, and rugby player Morné du Plessis - are among the 46-member Laureus Academy, which reads like a who's who of sporting greats.

Sapa and SouthAfrica.info

Share it!
South Africa Muti
Laak.it 24.com
Delicious
Facebook
Twitter
Stumble
Digg
NewsVine
YahooMyWeb
Reddit

Rate this Article

  • Currently 2.2/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Rating: 2.2/5 (18 votes cast)

Home arrow Sport arrow Boks conquer the sports world

cheap cigarettesfier forjat

Latest News - Sport

SA to host inaugural women's ICC

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

South Africa was recently chosen to host the inaugural ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge, which will take place in Potchefstroom, North West province, in October this year.
Read more...

Wits to develop worldclass coaches with Netherland's help

Thursday, 05 August 2010

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the Netherlands government have joined forces to create a World Cup legacy programme to develop social and football skills in the southern African region.

Read more...

Bafana rankings get World Cup boost

Thursday, 15 July 2010

Bafana Bafana has moved up 17 places in the FIFA World rankings and now occupies the 66th position.
Read more...

'We have proved that SA is capable of hosting any major event'

Tuesday, 06 July 2010

As South Africa enters its last week of hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup, President Jacob Zuma has said in an interview with Fifa that his country's organisation of the tournament has exceeded expectations – and confounded the sceptics.
Read more...

Latest Good News

Vehicle sales show improvement

Thursday, 02 September 2010

Vehicle sales in August showed improvement in comparison to the same period last year rising at 36.9 percent, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) said on Thursday.
Read more...

Black South Africans increase ownership on JSE

Thursday, 02 September 2010

Black South Africans own 18 percent of the available shares of the top 100 companies listed in Johannesburg, edging closer to a government target of 25 percent, a study showed on Wednesday.
Read more...

Weekly Blog

"Hardly a week goes by"

Author: Julie Cunningham
Wednesday, 01 September 2010

article thumbnailDespite a rather depressing week in SA, Steuart Pennington finds Durban's transformation and its uShaka Marine World good news indeed.
Read more...

Latest Videos

Hopeville the movie

article thumbnailSouth African stars have united in this beautiful story of hope and inspiration to conquers corruption and apathy.
Read more...

Weekly Podcast

Podcast - 27th August 2010

Listen to Julie Cunningham interview on 702 with Udo Carelse on what happened this week that was worth talking about.
Read more...

About SA The Good News

South Africa: The Good News is a news website that highlights the positive developments in South Africa.

We are an independent organisation, apolitical and with no agenda other than to source and publish good news about our beloved country. Read More...

Africa the good news