The Gallagher Premiership‘s awards ceremony was held on Wednesday night in London, with Gloucester’s Danny Cipriani and Sale Sharks’ Tom Curry honoured.
Danny Cipriani’s creative spark and reliable kicking did not go unnoticed as his superb season with the Cherry and Whites saw him crowned Premiership Player of the Season.
This comes after he won the Rugby Players’ Association’s award earlier in May, becoming only the second player to win both in a single season after Wasp’s Jimmy Gopperth achieved the same feat two years ago.
His Gloucester teammate, Olly Thorley, was given the Try of the Season for his effort in round 7 against Leicester Tigers.
Tom Curry, 20, scooped the Discovery of the Season award; reward for continually putting his body on the line and has earned many plaudits due to his turnovers and work at the breakdown.
Despite becoming the youngest forward to play for England in over a century when featuring on the 2017 summer tour of Argentina, this season has proven to be his real breakthrough for club and country.
Curry played down his achievement, instead wanting to acknowledge the role his teammates have played in him picking up the personal gong.
He said: “It’s a credit to the lads you surround yourself with. From a personal point of view I’ve got my brother who I can speak to a lot and we influence each other about how we think.
“From a mentoring view we’re very lucky to have someone like Jono Ross, in terms of our position, and then leaders we’ve got Faf de Klerk, Rob Webber and Chris Ashton, who can really talk tactics.
“How they think has been instrumental this season in terms of developing my own mindset in terms of being a more senior player.”
But David Flatman heaped praise upon Curry, in particular mentioning his consistency and ability to turn-in solid performance every week.
“Tom Curry was picked as the winner as he has performed brilliantly for Sale Sharks repeatedly, he’s done it many times this season in a Sale team that wasn’t able to achieve dominance,” Flatman said.
“He’s played well with his team on the front foot and the back foot, plus he’s done it for England. People roll this comment out all the time, so it loses its impact, but he’s a world-class player.”
Despite a troubled campaign in which they have languished near bottom of the table, George Ford‘s Gilbert Golden Boot gives Tigers fans reason for a wry smile.
Denny Solomona and Cobus Reinach of Sale and Northampton respectively, jointly won the Follador Top Try Scorer Award after scoring 12 tries apiece.
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