Simon Middleton creates history by winning World Rugby Coach of the Year Award
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Simon Middleton creates history as the first coach of a women’s team to win the prestigious award.
Middleton guided the Red Roses through a second successive calendar year unbeaten and 18 tests wins in a row, including back-to-back record wins over world champions New Zealand in November.
Middleton, in his seventh year as England head coach, saw his side score 57 tries and conceded only 10 in 2021 as they added another Women’s Six Nations title to their honours roll.
Nominees: Allan Bunting/Cory Sweeney (New Zealand Women’s Sevens), Ian Foster (New Zealand Men), Dave Rennie (Australia Men).
In the other World Rugby Awards that have been unveiled so far, Damian Penaud's try against Scotland on 26 March claimed the Men's Try of the Year Award while fellow countrywoman Emilie Boulard claimed the Women's try of the year Award for her try against Wales on 3 April.
New Zealand's Will Jordan claimed the Breakthrough Player of the Year Award.
One of a number of young wingers to announce their arrival on the world stage over the last 12 months, Will Jordan caught the eye not just for his try-scoring exploits for the All Blacks but also his work off the ball, unlocking defences for team-mates with regularity. A record of 15 tries in 11 tests in 2021, including five against Tonga and a hat-trick against USA saw him become the second-fastest All Black to reach 15 tries. Jordan only failed to score in two matches and given his phenomenal strike-rate, had he been available for all 15 tests that the All Blacks played in 2021, it’s likely he would have got the two tries he needed to set a new All Blacks record. He is the third All Black to win this award after Nehe Milner-Skudder (2015) and Rieko Ioane (2017).
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