Nicolás Sánchez is the winner of the 2018 Olimpia de Plata. The accolade is the default player of the year award as selected by Argentine sporting journalists.
Sánchez was one of three finalists. Also nominated were Jaguares and Pumas captain Pablo Matera and last year’s winner Emiliano Boffelli. Sánchez is also a prior winner, having won the award for his excellent World Cup in 2015.
In 2018 Sánchez became the all-time leading point scorer for Argentina. In his 68th test match appearance he scored 14 points to taker his total up to 655 points and overtake Felipe Contepomi’s mark of 651.
Sánchez presently has 709 points from 74 test matches. Contepomi retired in 2013 with 651 points from 87 test matches for Argentina. The third best is arguably Argentina’s greatest ever player, Hugo Porta. He scored 590 points in 58 test matches.
In 2018 Sánchez took Argentina to wins over South Africa and Australia in the Rugby Championship. Never before had Los Pumas won more than oner match in a Rugby Championship tournament. For Los Jaguares he was also prolific in getting the team into the play-off’s for the first time.