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Our last award of the year is our top international player of 2015. With the success of the Pumas there were always going to be a couple Argentines in the running, but when initially considering the contenders we looked past team success. In the end there was no debate as to who was the standout at the end of an exciting year of rugby in the Americas.
HONOURABLE MENTION
An outstanding World Cup qualifying series against Russia at the tail end of last year gave us an idea that Felipe Berchesi might have a big role to play in 2015, and he didn’t disappoint. In terms of point scoring it certainly wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was his generalship of the Uruguayan team that saw them exceed expectations in the World Cup and score a famous upset over an Argentina XV in Montevideo in August, a match where Berchesi landed 18 points.
What stands out most about DTH van der Merwe in 2015 is that despite Canada having a woeful season and losing all of their World Cup games, their star winger never failed to shine. In the five test he played to end the year starting September, van der Merwe scored in each with six tries in all. His form was such that many selected the new Scarlets resident in their tournament XVs, and among their year-end best.
The win over South Africa in Durban might have been Agustín Creevy’s proudest moment as captain of Los Pumas, but then who could forget his marvelous two-try performance against the All Blacks in Christchurch? At 30 years old the inspirational hooker is now at the peak of his powers and among the finest front row players in the world. In our eyes only one player in the Americas stood out more in test rugby during the 2015 calendar year.
THE WINNER
The tag of ‘underrated’ no longer applies to Nicolás Sánchez. It’s hard to believe that just a couple years ago he was struggling to find time in the Bordeaux starting lineup. This season saw the 27-year-old step into the limelight as a truly world class talent. At 85kg he is a fearless tackler, aggressive with ball in hand, and shows seemingly unbreakable composure in a field dominated by 100kg+ killers with orders to disrupt his game at all costs. His performance against Ireland in the World Cup quarter final stands up among the best that Argentina has ever seen. Nicolás Sánchez is our 2015 International Player of the Year.
