Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ellie Kildunne named world rugby's best players

Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ellie Kildunne named world rugby’s best players

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FILE - South Africa’s Pieter-Steph du Toit, center, is challenged by Ireland’s Bundee Aki, right, during a test match between South Africa and Ireland at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

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FILE - England’s Ellie Kildunne, left, and Canada’s Julia Schell, right, vie for the the ball during the WXV 1 women’s rugby union tournament, in Vancouver, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

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France’s Antoine Dupont runs during the Autumn Nations Series rugby international between France and Argentina at the Stade de France stadium at Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

MONACO (AP) — South Africa flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and England fullback Ellie Kildunne were named World Rugby’s players of the year on Sunday.

Antoine Dupont was the best men’s sevens player after helping France win the Olympic gold medal.

Du Toit, also the 2019 winner, became only the fourth men’s player to win the award at least twice, after New Zealanders Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Beauden Barrett.

Despite the Springboks’ policy of rotation, Du Toit showed his immense value by appearing in 10 of their 13 tests, and played the full game in eight of them. The double World Cup winner helped the Springboks win their first Rugby Championship since 2019 and achieve a first unbeaten autumn tour of Europe in 11 years.

He missed Saturday’s tour-ending win against Wales in Cardiff because of a shoulder issue.

Du Toit was crowned ahead of teammates Eben Etzebeth and Cheslin Kolbe, and Ireland captain Caelan Doris.

Kildunne’s award capped an impressive year in which she was also the Women’s Six Nations best player.

In an unbeaten year with England, she won a Six Nations Grand Slam, retained the WXV1 title and scored 14 tries in 10 tests. She also had time to help Britain in the Paris Olympics sevens.

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Also nominated were teammate and No. 8 Alex Matthews, France scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Canada flyhalf Alex Tessier.

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Kildunne was the fourth England winner in the last five awards.

Erin King became the first Irishwoman to win an individual award when she was chosen the women’s breakthrough player of the year.

King also went to the Olympics, and made her 15s debut only in September, when the back-rower helped Ireland finish second in the WXV1 after an historic win over world champion New Zealand.

All Blacks flanker Wallace Sititi was the men’s breakthrough player. Sititi, the son of former Samoa captain Semo Sititi, debuted off the bench against Fiji in July, and made a huge impression in his first test start against South Africa in Cape Town in September, on his 22nd birthday. He was undroppable from then on; starting all seven remaining tests. He was the only All Black to start all five on their tour of Japan and Europe.

The coach of the year was Jerome Daret, for guiding the France men’s sevens team to a first Olympic gold medal and first world series title. The France men, thanks to the injection of Dupont, had never previously medaled in the Olympics — didn’t even qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Games — and its best previous finish in world series history was fourth.

Dupont skipped the Six Nations to prepare for the Olympic sevens, and lived up to his billing. He scored two tries in the final against defending champion Fiji.

Australia’s Maddison Levi was the best women’s sevens player. She scored 69 tries in the world series and another 14 at the Olympics.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)