Morne van den Berg and Asenathi Ntlabakanye walked away with the top honours at the Lions Players Awards ceremony at Ellis Park on Tuesday night.
Van den Berg capped off a stellar 2024-25 season by claiming both the International Backline Player of the Year and the Lions Player of the Year titles.
“Such an honour for me to be recognised for these awards,” said the scrumhalf. “A huge credit to my teammates at the Lions and the incredible coaching staff who allow us to express ourselves on the field. The mindset in our environment is ‘team first’, which is why I believe these accolades mean nothing without the team behind me.”
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Ntlabakanye, who is back in training while facing two formal doping charges, was named International Forward of the Year for his standout displays and also received the prestigious Players’ Player of the Year award, as voted for by his teammates.
Rising wing Kelly Mpeku, a graduate of the Lions’ junior system, was recognised as Currie Cup Player of the Year after making his mark at senior level.
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Other winners on the night included Junior Boks star Haashim Pead (Junior Player of the Year), Siba Mahashe (U21 Forward of the Year) and schoolboy sensation Alzeadon Felix (U19 Backline Player of the Year).
Lions Players Awards winners:
U19 Back of the Year: Alzeadon Felix
U19 Forward of the Year: Luke Cannon
U21 Back of the Year: Jason Hugo
U21 Forward of the Year: Sibabalwe Mahashe
Junior Player of the Year: Haashim Pead
Back of the Year: Gianni Lombard
Forward of the Year: SJ Kotze
Breakthrough Player of the Year: SJ Kotze
Currie Cup Player of the Year: Kelly Mpeku
International Backline Player of the Year: Morne van den Berg
International Forward of the Year: Asenathi Ntlabakanye
International Breakthrough Player of the Year: RF Schoeman
Players’ Player of the Year: Asenathi Ntlabakanye
Photo: Chris Fairweather/Gallo Images
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